Two irrigation systems in Colombia : their performance and transfer of management to users'associations

Two Colombian irrigation projects are studied in this report, the Coello and RUT projects. Management of the RUT project is going to be transfered soon from public managers to farmers. The Coello project has been farmer managed for about 13 years. The keys to its success have been: 1) the dynamism of the private farming sector and support services in Colombia, 2) the high level of farmer training, 3) patterns of land tenure - with farms an average size of 15 hectares, 4) regular maintenance, 5) continuity of medium and low level staff, 6) availability of communication and transportation facilities, and 7) some use of hydraulic engineering in the design of irrigation facilities, to simplify operations and reduce maintenance costs.Water Conservation,Water Use,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water Supply and Systems,Town Water Supply and Sanitation

New data on Angustiphyllum Altevogt 1965, an automobile free-living rugose coral from the Eifelian of the Western Armorican Massif (France)

accessible à l'adresse suivante : http://popups.ulg.ac.be/Geol/document.php?id=3761International audienceThe genus Angustiphyllum is recorded for the first time in the Armorican Massif (Rade de Brest) and two new species are erected: A. stylophorum and A. vidalae. The well preserved material shows the indisputable presence of costae on the exterior side of the corallum, which, besides the wedge-like morphology of the corallum, constitutes the main diagnostic feature of the genus. Angustiphyllum seems to be a good index for the Upper Eifelian of the Ibero-Armorican Domain

Salivary cortisol and stereotypy in minimally verbal children with autism : a pilot study

Several studies have reported conflicting results when assessing associations between stress and repetitive behaviors in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some factors that may have caused these discrepant results include the monitoring of a single broad category for repetitive behaviors, the heterogeneity of the participants, and the use of indirect measures. To address the prior issues, our study explored the relationship between salivary cortisol and direct observation measures of stereotypy in four minimally verbal children with ASD. To this end, we combined an alternating-treatment design with multiple regression analyses to examine the interaction between the two variables. The analyses indicated that the mean value of cortisol was negatively associated with global and motor stereotypy. No significant relation was found between mean value of cortisol and vocal stereotypy. These results highlight the complex relationship between stress and stereotypy and emphasize the relevance of conducting research on a larger scale, which would have a direct impact on our understanding of a core feature of ASD

La synergologie, une lecture pseudoscientifique du langage corporel

L’objectif du présent article est d’évaluer si la synergologie fait partie du domaine de la science ou si elle n’est qu’une pseudoscience du décodage du non-verbal. Le texte comprend cinq parties. Dans la première partie, nous décrivons des éléments importants de la démarche scientifique. Dans les deuxième et troisième parties, nous présentons brièvement la synergologie et nous vérifions si celle-ci respecte les critères de la science. La quatrième partie fait état d’une mise en demeure adressée à Patrick Lagacé et à La Presse pour une série de textes qui présentait une vision très critique de cette approche. Enfin, l’utilisation d’arguments non pertinents d’un point de vue scientifique, une tentative inappropriée de donner de la crédibilité à la synergologie par une mise en demeure et un recours injustifié à l’argument éthique nous amènent à conclure que la synergologie est une pseudoscience du décodage du non-verbal.The objective of this paper is to assess whether synergology is part of science or whether it is merely a nonverbal behavior decoding pseudoscience. The text consists of five sections. In the first section, we describe important elements of the scientific approach. In the second and third sections, we briefly present synergology and we examine if it meets scientific criteria. The fourth section reports a demand letter addressed to Patrick Lagacé and La Presse for a series of texts which presented a very critical view of this approach. Finally, the use of irrelevant arguments from a scientific point of view, an unwarranted attempt to give credibility to synergology by a demand letter and an unjustified use of the ethical argument lead us to conclude that synergology is a nonverbal behavior decoding pseudoscience

Evaluation of different methods for the determination of the free alkali metal content in the pore solution of concrete

publishedVersio

Utilization of Bio Ashes in Cement-based Materials: A Case Study in Cooperation with Pulp and Paper and Energy Production Industries in Sweden

Worldwide increased concern of the CO2 emissions has led to the replacement of coal by biomass in combustion-based power plants. However, this would cause the scarcity of fly ash, one of the most well-known rest products from coal combustion, which is used as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in construction sector to reduce the large environmental footprint of cement production. Seeking to find alternative SCMs, this article aims to demonstrate the viability of using bio ashes in Sweden as SCM, which, due to lack of studies validating their value, are landfilled today. According to the obtained results, bio ashes produced at pulp and paper industries have a considerably consistent chemical composition and exhibit a satisfactory pozzolanic behaviour. Nevertheless, according to the conclusions of this study, the pozzolanicity of these alternative binders is not reflected equally with respect to the most known reactivity tests for common SCMs. The results imply that although “R3” tests method infers the pozzolanic characteristics of the bio ashes in focus of this study, the “activity index test” as well as “calcium consumption test” indicate otherwise

Alkali leaching from an ASR-affected dam

publishedVersio

Lower Devonian faunas and palynomorphs from the Dornes Syncline (Central Iberian Zone, Portugal): stratigraphical and paleogeographical implications

International audiencen the Dornes syncline, southern Central Iberian Zone, Portugal, the uppermost levels of the Serra do Luação Formation up to now have been considered to be of Pridoli-Lochkovian? age because they lie immediately under the Dornes Formation, which is of Pragian age and is well defined stratigraphically. New paleontological elements including benthic faunas and palynomorphs allow us to confirm that the top of the Serra do Luação Formation is securely Lochkovian, for upper Lochkovian strata are present although relatively thin. The transition from the Serra do Luação to the Dornes formations and their lithostratigraphical relationship are now clear: the terrigenous succession belongs to the Serra do Luação Formation and the limestones represent the Dornes Formation. The benthic faunas clearly have North-Gondwanan affinities

L’égalité des sexes n’a rien à voir avec la science!

Cet article critique un livre récemment écrit dont l’objectif est de défendre l’égalité des sexes en niant l’existence de différences entre les femmes et les hommes. La première partie de l’article affirme que l’égalité des sexes est une valeur sociale qui ne se réduit pas au fait que les femmes et les hommes se distinguent à certains égards. Les chercheurs qui défendent leurs valeurs ou croyances personnelles à partir des recherches font un abus de pouvoir qui affecte à la fois leur crédibilité et celle de la science. La seconde partie démontre que les différences sexuelles mises à jour jusqu’à maintenant, parfois petites parfois grandes, méritent d’être mieux comprises, même si les hommes et les femmes ont davantage de points communs qu’ils ne présentent de différences. Les chercheurs tiennent rarement compte du contexte lorsqu’ils mesurent les différents traits et comparent des scores plutôt que de comparer les processus développementaux impliqués dans l’adaptation des femmes et des hommes à leur environnement. Les processus développementaux qu’il nous faut découvrir impliquent nécessairement une interaction entre l’environnement et les prédispositions biologiques.This article is a critique of a recent book that was written with the objective of defending sex equality by denying the existence of differences between women and men. The first part of the article argues that sex equality is a social value independent of the fact that men and women differ in certain ways. When researchers use scientific data to defend personal values and beliefs, it is an abuse of power that affects both their own credibility and that of science itself. The second part demonstrates the importance of developing a better understanding of those sex differences, both large and small, even if men and women have more points in common than differences. Researchers rarely take context into account when they measure different traits and compare scores instead of comparing the developmental processes involved in women and men’s adaptation to their environment. The interaction between environment and biological predispositions is inherent in the developmental processes requiring further investigation

Données nouvelles sur l'intercroissance Rugosa - Bryozoa dans le Dévonien inférieur du Nord Gondwana

Numerous and generally well-preserved examples of the intergrowth Rugosa-Bryozoa from the Upper Pragian and Lower Emsian of the Armorican Massif (Châteaulin and Laval synclinoria), France, and from the Upper Emsian of the Ougarta Mountains, Erg Djemel, Algeria, are described. In the Armorican Massif, the corallites of a rugosan Tryplasmatidae? are intergrown with Ceramoporidae bryozoan close to Crepipora, exceptionally with an unidentified Fistuliporidae (likely a new genus), whereas in Ougarta the coral is not identifiable and is associated with a Fistuliporidae assigned to Fistulipora. Although mainly left in open nomenclature, the material is fully described (structure and microstructure) and illustrated (calcitic skeleton and natural moulds) for the first time. In addition, the presence of Ceramoporidae in the Lower Devonian is clearly established. The evaluation of the association is briefly discussed and a mutualistic relationship supported.Des exemples nombreux et généralement bien conservés d'intercroissance Bryozoa-Rugosa, collectés dans le Praguien supérieur et l'Emsien inférieur du Massif Armoricain (synclinoria de Châteaulin et de Laval), France, et dans l'Emsien supérieur des Monts d'Ougarta, Erg Djemel, Algérie, sont décrits. Dans le Massif Armoricain, les corallites d'un tétracoralliaire Tryplasmatidae? sont associés à un bryozoaire Ceramoporidae proche de Crepipora, exceptionnellement à un Fistuliporidae probablement nouveau, tandis que dans l'Ougarta le coralliaire - mal ou partiellement préservé - n'est pas identifiable et se développe en association avec un Fistuliporidae du genre Fistulipora. Bien que laissé en nomenclature ouverte pour l'essentiel, le matériel est décrit en détail (structure et microstructure) et, des images du squelette calcitique et des moulages naturels sont fournies pour la première fois. Accessoirement, la présence des Ceramoporidae dans le dévonien inférieur est incontestablement établie. Les modalités de l'intercroissance sont brièvement discutées et une relation de type mutualiste est retenue