Plants growth, water relations and photosynthesis of two bean genotypes Phaseolus vulgaris L. treated with NaCl and fluridone

Phaseolus vulgaris has a great variability regarding the tolerance to salinity. In this work, we used fluridone as a tool to study the herbicide’s effect on two salt stressed bean genotypes since fluridone alters photosynthetic pigments and blocks normal abscisic acid biosynthesis under salinity. Plants from two bean genotypes were subjected to different NaCl concentrations during three days. Thereafter, half of these plants were treated by fluridone and then were harvested three days later. Growth, water relations, stomatal conductance and photosynthesis were reduced after NaCl application. In general, differences were highly significant for salt treatments up to 60 mM. Decreases in photosynthetic rates under salinity were attributed partly to reduce stomatal conductance (r2 = 0.87**), partly to membrane alterations (r2 = 0.69**) and partly to reduced photosynthetic pigment concentrations (r2 = 0.56**). Thus, when plants of both genotypes were subjected to fluridone, they showed higher sensitivity to a subsequent salinity than stressed plants that had not been exposed to the inhibitor; the negative effects were most evident with 60 mM NaCl concentration and in the presence of 90 mM NaCl, almost all physiological activities were suppressed. The superiority of the genotype Tema against Djadida genotype was attributed to quantitative rather than qualitative physiological response differences.Keywords: Salinity, fluridone, bean, growth, photosynthesis, stomatal conductanceAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3811-382

Tailored retrieval of health information from the web for facilitating communication and empowerment of elderly people

A patient, nowadays, acquires health information from the Web mainly through a “human-to-machine” communication process with a generic search engine. This, in turn, affects, positively or negatively, his/her empowerment level and the “human-to-human” communication process that occurs between a patient and a healthcare professional such as a doctor. A generic communication process can be modelled by considering its syntactic-technical, semantic-meaning, and pragmatic-effectiveness levels and an efficacious communication occurs when all the communication levels are fully addressed. In the case of retrieval of health information from the Web, although a generic search engine is able to work at the syntactic-technical level, the semantic and pragmatic aspects are left to the user and this can be challenging, especially for elderly people. This work presents a custom search engine, FACILE, that works at the three communication levels and allows to overcome the challenges confronted during the search process. A patient can specify his/her information requirements in a simple way and FACILE will retrieve the “right” amount of Web content in a language that he/she can easily understand. This facilitates the comprehension of the found information and positively affects the empowerment process and communication with healthcare professionals

Public Service Interpreter Education in the Gulf States: Ideas for Curriculum Design and Teaching

The Gulf States host large numbers of non-Arabic-speaking residents and visitors. These non-nationals need to deal with such public services as hospitals, schools, courts, and other local administrations. In many cases, English is used as a lingua franca; however, not all public service staff or clients are able to speak or communicate effectively in this language. The communication needs in such situations require the assistance of professional public service interpreters, which, in turn, calls for appropriate education. In this paper, I outline education needs in public service interpreting in the Gulf States; provide an overview of common curricular contents and teaching methods in this area; put forward a proposal for learning outcomes, course contents, and teaching strategies; and highlight the importance of an interpreting practicum for graduate employability and community engagement

Less-Than-Lethal Self Defense Device with an Acoustic Element

This creative capstone project involves the conception, design, and creation of a less-than-lethal self defense device with an integrated sound board to control the acoustic element. Theoretically, this device is capable of deterring potential threats without causing any serious harm or any long-term damage. When starting this project, I was very focused on sonic warfare, and how to harness the power of ultrasonic and infrasonic sound waves to subdue to target; however, I concluded that using resonant frequencies to deter a human being is too dangerous, expensive, and can have negative effects for the user of the device if used incorrectly. After extensive research on acoustical properties, harmonic/resonant frequencies, and the science behind directing sound waves, I have created an efficient, effective, and safe way to add an acoustic element to my Senior Design project. I have accomplished this by adding a small Arduino Sound FX Board and two 1.5-inch drivers to an embedded horn on the underside of the device. The sound board and drivers will produce the needed frequencies while the embedded horn will direct the sound waves toward the threat and minimize reflections back towards the user of the device

Continuidad y ruptura en el contexto de una institución para la inclusión social

Treballs Finals de Grau Antropologia Social i Cultural, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2014-2015, Tutor: Ignasi TerradasLas instituciones sociales privadas, así como las públicas, imponen un conjunto de maneras de hacer concretas en el proceso de construcción de la propia persona. Para este caso, me he centrado en una institución semiprivada que gestiona la realidad actual de jóvenes procedentes de prisiones de Cataluña y de la calle -también de la provincia-. A partir de un proyecto educativo se transmiten unas formas de hacer que están vinculadas a un modelo concreto de hacer sociedad. Quien forma parte de ella en carácter de incluido, y quien es considerado más allá de sus fronteras, no son espacios otorgados a la azar. Tras los límites de la sociedad se oculta un complejo sistema de admisión-expulsión que está estrechamente ligado a lo que se concibe como un Sistema óptimo. Los marginados, que son apartados de las conexiones sociales, son también alejados de las redes económicas. Desde aquí se intentará abordar esta compleja realidad; el día a día de unos jóvenes con unas perspectivas de futuro aparentemente opacas, y el de sus trabajadores sociales que buscan subvertir esta situación de partida distanciándose, pero a la vez acercándose a las formas establecidas de hacer sociedad