Anticipating and Responding to Drought Emergencies in Southern Africa: Lessons from the 2002-2003 Experience

This paper examines the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency response in southern Africa through the lens of the 2002/03 food crisis in the region. The authors outline improvements in information and operational procedures needed to enhance the response to future events. They also discuss national and regional trade regime changes that would reduce the need for emergency response, and consider what lessons the 2002/03 crisis may have for the role of Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs).food security, drought, emergency, Southern Africa, Food Security and Poverty, Q18,

Enabling Small-Scale Maize Marketing and Processing to Assure Supplies of Low-Cost Staples

Crop Production/Industries, Downloads December 2008 - July 2009: 6,

Além da forma quando a subjetividade é visitada

CAMPOS, Roberta Bivar C. (2013), Quando a tristeza é bela: o sofrimento e a constituição do social e da verdade entre os Ave de Jesus (Juazeiro do Norte- CE). Recife, Ed. Universitária da UFPE, 187 p

Unveiling the Dynamics of the Universe

We explore the dynamics and evolution of the Universe at early and late times, focusing on both dark energy and extended gravity models and their astrophysical and cosmological consequences. Modified theories of gravity not only provide an alternative explanation for the recent expansion history of the universe, but they also offer a paradigm fundamentally distinct from the simplest dark energy models of cosmic acceleration. In this review, we perform a detailed theoretical and phenomenological analysis of different modified gravity models and investigate their consistency. We also consider the cosmological implications of well motivated physical models of the early universe with a particular emphasis on inflation and topological defects. Astrophysical and cosmological tests over a wide range of scales, from the solar system to the observable horizon, severely restrict the allowed models of the Universe. Here, we review several observational probes -- including gravitational lensing, galaxy clusters, cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization, supernova and baryon acoustic oscillations measurements -- and their relevance in constraining our cosmological description of the Universe.Comment: 94 pages, 14 figures. Review paper accepted for publication in a Special Issue of Symmetry. "Symmetry: Feature Papers 2016". V2: Matches published version, now 79 pages (new format

CdSe quantum dots using polyselenide precursor in soft chemical conditions

CdSe quantum dots were prepared by a simple microemulsion templating technique at low temperature and using common inorganic precursors. Size control was obtained by small variations in reactant concentrations. The chalcogenide source was a polyselenide solution. Narrow (30-40nm fwhm) band gap photoluminescence low defect level and high quantum yield were obtained.FCT and FEDER for financial support to the Research Centre, CFUM [PEst-C/FIS/UI0607/2011 (F-COMP-01-0124-FEDER-022711)] and to the research project PTDC/FIS/113199/200

Films negros en edifícios históricos de Oporto: caracterización y experiencias de limpieza

Los films negros constituyen el principal motivo de las intervenciones de limpieza de fachadas de edificios históricos en la ciudad de Oporto, Portugal, construidos con el granito de Oporto de dos micas, de grano medio a grueso, compuesto de cuarzo, microclina, plagioclasa, muscovita y biotita. Varios estudios realizados sobre la calidad del aire urbano y la deposición de partículas atmosféricas apuntan a un origen antropogénico de estas capas de alteración. El estudio llevado a cabo sobre muestras de films negros del “Hospital de Santo António” revela la presencia de hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos (PAH) en cantidades apreciables, detectada por LC-FD (Cromatografía líquida con detector de fluorescencia). El análisis por SEM-EDX (Microscopía electrónica de barrido con microanálisis de rayos X) de estos films muestra que están constituidos por una gran cantidad de partículas de dimensión reducida (que raramente pasan los 10-20 m), asociadas a una matriz de material homogéneo de naturaleza probablemente amorfa. Estas partículas se caracterizan por una gran complejidad mineralógica y morfológica, destacándose partículas ricas en Fe, partículas ricas en Pb, no cristalinas, cenizas volantes esféricas de superficie lisa de Si y Al. Las consecuencias de la presencia de estos compuestos en la superficie de los materiales pétreos son su oscurecimiento. Estas capas de alteración se diferencian de las costras negras debido a su textura, forma, exposición a la acción del agua de la lluvia y composición mineralógica. En consecuencia, las técnicas aplicables a su limpieza son también distintas de las habitualmente usadas para las costras negras. Finalmente, se describen experiencias en operaciones de limpieza llevadas a cabo en edificios de la ciudad de Porto con métodos abrasivos y químicos y se discuten posibilidades tecnológicas y parámetros de control de calidad de las intervenciones.Tópico 6: Patrimonio Urbano de los siglos XVIII al XX. Técnicas de Limpieza y de Conservación

Analysis of satellite-derived Arctic tropospheric BrO columns in conjunction with aircraft measurements during ARCTAS and ARCPAC

We derive tropospheric column BrO during the ARCTAS and ARCPAC field campaigns in spring 2008 using retrievals of total column BrO from the satellite UV nadir sensors OMI and GOME-2 using a radiative transfer model and stratospheric column BrO from a photochemical simulation. We conduct a comprehensive comparison of satellite-derived tropospheric BrO column to aircraft in-situ observations of BrO and related species. The aircraft profiles reveal that tropospheric BrO, when present during April 2008, was distributed over a broad range of altitudes rather than being confined to the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Perturbations to the total column resulting from tropospheric BrO are the same magnitude as perturbations due to longitudinal variations in the stratospheric component, so proper accounting of the stratospheric signal is essential for accurate determination of satellite-derived tropospheric BrO. We find reasonably good agreement between satellite-derived tropospheric BrO and columns found using aircraft in-situ BrO profiles, particularly when satellite radiances were obtained over bright surfaces (albedo \u3e0.7), for solar zenith angl

Biological treatment of effluent containing textile dyes

Colour removal of textile dyes from effluent was evaluated using a laboratory upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Several commercial dyes were selected to study the effect of dye structure on colour removal. The anaerobic reactor was fed with glucose, an easily biodegradable organic matter and selected individual dyes. Results show that some of the dyes are readily reduced under anaerobic conditions even at high concentration of 700 mg/l. The average removal efficiency for acid dyes using this method was between 80 and 90% and that observed for the direct used was 81%. Laboratory experiments using the anaerobic reactor with disperse dyes, such as an anthraquinone based dye, were unsuccessful even at low concentrations of 35 mg/l. Additional experiments were conducted to evaluate the toxicity of a selected disperse dye to an anaerobic environment. Results indicate that the purified dye is more toxic to the biomass than the commercial one

The Quick Fire Emissions Dataset (QFED): Documentation of Versions 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4

Biomass burning is an important source of particulates and trace gases and a major element of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Well constrained emissions from vegetation fires are needed to model direct and indirect effects of biomass burning aerosols, to model homogeneous and heterogeneous chemistry in the atmosphere, and to perform credible Earth system analysis, and climate and air pollution studies. To improve the performance of NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS) in the areas of atmospheric constituent modeling with a focus on biomass burning we developed the Quick Fire Emissions Dataset (QFED). The QFED emissions are based on the fire radiative power (top-down) approach and draw on the cloud correction method developed in the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS). Location and fire radiative power of fires are obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 2 fire products (MOD14 and MYD14) and the MODIS Geolocation products (MOD03 and MYD03). QFED strengths are high spatial and temporal resolutions and near-real time availability. Daily mean emissions are available at 0.3125 times 0.25 degrees and in recent versions also at 0.1 times 0.1 degrees. QFED provides emissions of black carbon, organic carbon, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, PM2.5, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, methyl ethyl ketone, propylene, ethane, propane, n- and i-butane, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acetone and methane. Two QFED product systems are maintained by the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO): one that produces near real-time daily emissions used operationally in the GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System, and one that produces an extended historical dataset with daily emissions from March 2000 to the present. The historical dataset also provides monthly mean and monthly climatological emissions