Institutions and Economics of Water Scarcity and Droughts

Integrated water resources management seeks an efficient blend of all water resources (e.g., fresh surface water, groundwater, reused water, desalinated water) to meet the demands of the full range of water users (e.g., agriculture, municipalities, industry, and e-flows). Water scarcity and droughts already affect many regions of the world and are expected to increase due to climate change and economic growth. In this Special Issue, 10 peer-reviewed articles have been published that address the questions regarding the economic effects of water scarcity and droughts, management instruments, such as water pricing, water markets, technologies and user-based reallocation, and the strategies to enhance resiliency, adaptation to scarcity and droughts. There is a need to improve the operation of institutions in charge of the allocation and re-allocation of resources when temporal (drought) or structural over-allocation arises. Water scarcity, droughts and pollution have increased notably in recent decades. A drought is a temporary climatic effect or natural disaster that can occur anywhere and can be short or prolonged. Water scarcity involves a lack of supply relative to potential or current demand that generates conflict between alternative uses of water, especially regarding the requirements of societies, economic sectors, territories and ecosystems. Traditionally, users in water-scarce regions have adapted to dealing with water shortages; however, droughts can greatly increase problems since they are uncertain events and also affect water-abundant regions, with climate change increasing their frequency and severity [1]. Supply-side mechanisms have traditionally been employed to cope with drought by building infrastructure (wells, dams, channels, inter-basin transfers), and recently by including desalinised, brackish, and reclaimed wastewater into the resource mix. Berbel and Esteban [2] study the influence of drought as a catalyst for water policy reform in three developed economies with a Mediterranean climate (Spain, California and Australia), and find that solutions and institutions are trajectory-dependant and grounded in social institutions. Nevertheless, there is a convergence of the type of instruments employed to manage water scarcity and droughts. In this Special Issue, the reported case studies recount experiences from USA, China, and the European Union (southern Member States). A variety of proposals aimed at tackling droughts and scarcity have been discussed, ranging from economic tools (pricing and insurance) and the increased use of reclaimed wastewater, to reforming the institutional setting (water markets and priority rights). Most of these papers analyses economic instruments and agriculture, but other economic sectors as well as non-market values are also addressed

The kinematics of white dwarfs from the SDSS DR12

We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12, which is the largest availablewhite dwarf catalogue to date, to study the evolution of the kinematical properties of the pop-ulation of white dwarfs of the Galactic disk. We derive masses, ages, photometric distances andradial velocities for all white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich atmospheres. For those stars for whichproper motions from the USNO-B1 catalogue are available, the three-dimensional componentsof the velocity are obtained. This subset of the original sample comprises 20,247 stars, makingit the largest sample of white dwarfs with measured three-dimensional velocities. The volumeprobed by our sample is large, allowing us to obtain relevant kinematical information. In partic-ular, our sample extends from a Galactocentric radial distanceRG=7.8 to 9.3 kpc, and verticaldistances from the Galactic plane ranging fromZ=+0.5to–0.5kpc.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

S-Like Ribonuclease T2 Genes Are Induced during Mobilisation of Nutrients in Cotyledons from Common Bean

Germination and seedling development are crucial phases in a plant’s life cycle with economical and agronomical implications. The RNA quality in seeds is linked to seed viability, being an important agronomic trait since this leads to a loss in germination efficiency. In addition, RNA can be an important phosphorous reservoir in seeds, affecting the efficiency of the mobilisation of nutrients towards the seedlings. However, knowledge about the physiological function of ribonucleases during germination and seedling development is scarce. We analysed the ribonuclease activities of cotyledons during these processes and the expression of S-like ribonucleases T2. Ribonuclease activity was detected in cotyledons at 1 day after imbibition and the specific activity increased during germination and seedling development, reaching a maximal value at 10 days after imbibition. At this stage, the levels of proteins and RNA in cotyledons were very low. Using in-gel assays, three ribonucleases were detected with apparent molecular masses of 16, 17 and 19 kDa along cotyledon ontogeny. The S-like ribonucleases T2 family consists of four genes in common bean (PvRNS1 to PvRNS4). The expression of PvRNS1, PvRNS2 and PvRNS4 increased in the phase of nutrient mobilisation in cotyledons. The expression of PvRNS1 increased 1000 fold in cotyledons, from 1 to 6 days after imbibition. The suppression of the induction of ribonuclease activity and gene expression in decapitated seedlings suggests that the regulatory signal comes from the developing axes. These results clearly state that S-like ribonucleases T2 are involved in RNA turnover in cotyledons during seedling development

A Brief Overview of Ophthalmic Ultrasound Imaging

Ultrasound is one of the oldest imaging modalities. Sound waves are emitted into the body, and the returning echoes can be interpreted. It has become widely used because it can easily be done at bedside with a relatively small apparatus and does not expose the patient to any ionizing radiation. While this technique has seen widespread acceptance in other fields such as cardiology or obstetrics and gynecology, the general use in ophthalmology has been somewhat limited. However, recent advancements in ultrasonic arrays can be a powerful tool in the evaluation of ophthalmic pathology. Such systems can quickly generate very high detail images and 3D reconstructions without the need for extensive manual scanning. The application of this technology includes evaluation of traumatic eye injuries; assessing presence and location of an intraocular foreign body; evaluation of intraocular tumors, including small tumors that have not yet caused visual distortion; evaluation of retinal detachment; and evaluation of vascular disease. The goal of this article is to briefly review the history and development of ultrasound and to provide an overview of the most current systems and applications of ultrasound use in ophthalmologic clinical evaluation

Valores antropométricos en niños con celiaquía diagnosticados precozmente

Peer Reviewe

Nested interactions between chemosynthetic lucinid bivalves and seagrass promote ecosystem functioning in contaminated sediments

In seagrass sediments, lucinid bivalves and their chemoautotrophic bacterial symbionts consume H2S, relying indirectly on the plant productivity for the presence of the reduced chemical. Additionally, the role of lucinid bivalves in N provisioning to the plant (through N2 fixation by the symbionts) was hypothesized. Thus, lucinids may contribute to sediment detoxification and plant fitness. Seagrasses are subject to ever-increasing human pressure in coastal environments. Here, disentangling nested interactions between chemosynthetic lucinid bivalves and seagrass exposed to pollution may help to understand seagrass ecosystem dynamics and to develop successful seagrass restoration programs that consider the roles of animal-microbe symbioses. We evaluated the capacity of lucinid bivalves (Loripes orbiculatus) to promote nutrient cycling and seagrass (Cymodocea nodosa) growth during a 6-week mesocosm experiment. A fully crossed design was used to test for the effect of sediment contamination (metals, nutrients, and hydrocarbons) on plant and bivalve (alone or interacting) fitness, assessed by mortality, growth, and photosynthetic efficiency, and for the effect of their nested interaction on sediment biogeochemistry. Plants performed better in the contaminated sediment, where a larger pool of dissolved nitrogen combined with the presence of other trace elements allowed for an improved photosynthetic efficiency. In fact, pore water nitrogen accumulated during the experiment in the controls, while it was consumed in the contaminated sediment. This trend was accentuated when lucinids were present. Concurrently, the interaction between clams and plants benefitted both organisms and promoted plant growth irrespective of the sediment type. In particular, the interaction with lucinid clams resulted in higher aboveground biomass of C. nodosa in terms of leaf growth, leaf surface, and leaf biomass. Our results consolidate the notion that nested interactions involving animal-microbe associations promote ecosystem functioning, and potentially help designing unconventional seagrass restoration strategies that exploit chemosynthetic symbioses.Versión del edito

Los retos del país y los aportes de la Contaduría Pública

El presente escrito pretende demostrar la importancia que la investigación debe tener en una profesión como la Contaduría Pública para facilitar el desarrollo de cualquier tipo de organización tanto pública como privada; y cómo ésta (la investigación) puede ser factor decisivo para asumir con responsabilidad y solidez los retos que la sociedad actual le impone al profesional de esta área

Drug utilization, safety, and effectiveness of exenatide, sitagliptin, and vildagliptin for type 2 diabetes in the real world: Data from the Italian AIFA Anti-diabetics Monitoring Registry

AbstractBackground and aimsIn Italy, the reimbursed use of incretin mimetics and incretin enhancers was subject to enrollment of patients into a web-based system recording the general demographic and clinical data of patients. We report the utilization data of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor agonists and dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors in clinical practice as recorded by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) Monitoring Registry.Methods and resultsFrom February 2008 to August 2010, 75,283 patients with type 2 diabetes were entered into the registry and treated with exenatide, sitagliptin, or vildagliptin. The treatment was administered to patients in a wide range of ages (≥75 years, n = 6125 cases), body mass index (BMI) (≥35 kg/m2, n = 22,015), and metabolic control (HbA1c ≥ 11% ((96 mmol/mol), n = 3151). Overall, 1116 suspected adverse drug reactions were registered, including 12 cases of acute pancreatitis (six on exenatide). Hypoglycemic episodes mainly occurred in combination with sulfonylureas. Treatment discontinuation for the three drugs (logistic regression analysis) was negatively associated with the male gender and positively with baseline HbA1c, diabetes duration, and, limitedly to DPP-4 inhibitors, with BMI. Treatment discontinuation (including loss to follow-up, accounting for 21–26%) was frequent. Discontinuation for treatment failure occurred in 7.7% of cases (exenatide), 3.8% (sitagliptin), and 4.1% (vildagliptin), respectively, corresponding to 27–40% of all discontinuations, after excluding lost to follow-up. HbA1c decreased on average by 0.9–1.0% (9 mmol/mol). Body weight decreased by 3.5% with exenatide and by 1.0–1.5% with DPP-4 inhibitors.ConclusionsIn the real world of Italian diabetes centers, prescriptions of incretins have been made in many cases outside the regulatory limits. Nevertheless, when appropriately utilized, incretins may grant results at least in line with pivotal trials

Determinación de las estrategias de mantenimiento utilizadas por las grandes y medianas empresas del área metropolitana pereiradosquebradas

Este articulo presenta el resultado de la primera etapa de un proyecto de investigación que está siendo desarrollado por la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, destinado a determinar las estrategias de mantenimiento utilizadas por la industria del área metropolitana Pereira – Dosquebradas. Esta primera etapa aborda el estudio de la gran y mediana industria. Para alcanzar los resultados se realizó una segmentación de la industria por tamaño, se diseñó y aplicó un estudio estadístico en el segmento reseñado y se obtuvo una cualificación y cuantificación del estado de la función Mantenimiento en dichos sectores. Se espera que los resultados sirvan de referencia a los gremios económicos de la región y a las industrias estudiadas, para el trazado de políticas frente a las falencias encontradas

Determinación de las estrategias de mantenimiento utilizadas por las grandes y medianas empresas del área metropolitana pereiradosquebradas

Este articulo presenta el resultado de la primera etapa de un proyecto de investigación que está siendo desarrollado por la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, destinado a determinar las estrategias de mantenimiento utilizadas por la industria del área metropolitana Pereira – Dosquebradas. Esta primera etapa aborda el estudio de la gran y mediana industria. Para alcanzar los resultados se realizó una segmentación de la industria por tamaño, se diseñó y aplicó un estudio estadístico en el segmento reseñado y se obtuvo una cualificación y cuantificación del estado de la función Mantenimiento en dichos sectores. Se espera que los resultados sirvan de referencia a los gremios económicos de la región y a las industrias estudiadas, para el trazado de políticas frente a las falencias encontradas