Integrated water resources management for sustainable irrigation at the basin scale

The objective of this paper is to review the state of art on integrated water resources management (IWRM) approaches for sustainable irrigation at the basin scale under semi-arid and arid climatic conditions, with main emphasis on Latin America, but including case studies of other semi-arid and arid regions in the world. In Latin America the general concept of IWRM has proved to be hard to implement. Case studies recommend to develop the approach from lower to upper scale and oriented at the end-user. As IWRM is an interdisciplinary approach and used for very different objectives, the main emphasis is given to IWRM approaches for sustainable irrigation and their environmental aspects. The review shows that in Latin America the environmental impact is mostly analysed at the field level, the impact on the whole basin is less considered. Many publications present the development of models, advisory services and tools for decision support systems at a high technical level. Some papers present studies of environmental aspects of sustainable irrigation, especially for salt affected areas. Multi-criteria decision making models are developed for irrigation planning and irrigation scenarios are used to show the impact of different irrigation management decision. In general integrated approaches in Latin America are scarce

Comparison of gridded and measured rainfall data for basin-scale hydrological studies

Global gridded climatological (GGC) datasets, including precipitation and temperature, are becoming more and more precise, accessible, and common, but the utility of these datasets and their limits for hydrological research are still not well determined. In this paper, we compare the performance of two hydrological models that are identical in structure but built with two different inputs: rainfall from rain gauge stations and from a GGC dataset. The objective is to evaluate the utility of gridded datasets in water resource availability studies mainly for hydroelectric and agricultural purposes. The Andean basin of the Laja River, located in south-central Chile, was chosen for this study. It was based on an 18-yr simulation, and it was concluded that i) with gridded climatological datasets in a monthly water balance model, it is possible to reproduce the behavior of an Andean basin with good goodness-of-fit, but with worse results than when using inputs from rain gauges; ii) the amount of rainfall in gridded datasets in the Andean area of the Laja basin is underestimated and damped, an effect which is transferred to the simulated flows; and iii) regarding the main activities in the Laja basin, global gridded datasets are useful for hydrological studies with agricultural purposes prior to a treatment that considers the orographic effect. On the other hand, these datasets are useless for hydroelectric purposes due to the large underestimation of peak flows obtained during the rainy season.EU Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation WindowCONICYT “Programa Nacional de Formación de Capital Humano Avanzado” scholarshipBMBF/CONICYT/ 2008099FONDECYT 1109003

Repopulation of decellularized retinas with hiPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelial and ocular progenitor cells shows cell engraftment, organization and differentiation

Decellularization; Ocular progenitors; RetinaDescelularización; Progenitores oculares; RetinaDescel·lularització; Progenitors oculars; RetinaThe retinal extracellular matrix (ECM) provides architectural support, adhesion and signal guidance that controls retinal development. Decellularization of the ECM affords great potential to tissue engineering; however, how structural retinal ECM affects in vitro development, differentiation and maturation of ocular cells remains to be elucidated. Here, mouse and porcine retinas were decellularized and the protein profile analyzed. Acellular retinal ECM (arECM) scaffolds were then repopulated with human iPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells or ocular progenitor cells (OPC) to assess their integration, proliferation and organization. 3837 and 2612 unique proteins were identified in mouse and porcine arECM, respectively, of which 93 and 116 proteins belong to the matrisome. GO analysis shows that matrisome-related proteins were associated with the extracellular region and cell junction and KEGG pathways related to signalling transduction, nervous and endocrine systems and cell junctions were enriched. Interestingly, mouse and porcine arECMs were successfully repopulated with both RPE and OPC, the latter exhibiting cell lineage-specific clusters. Retinal cells organized into different layers containing well-defined areas with pigmented cells, photoreceptors, Müller glia, astrocytes, and ganglion cells, whereas in other areas, conjunctival/limbal, corneal and lens cells re-arranged in cell-specific self-organized areas. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that decellularization of both mouse and porcine retinas retains common native ECM components that upon cell repopulation could guide similar ocular cell adhesion, migration and organization.This work was supported by La Marató de TV3 Foundation (484/C/2012); ERA-NET EuroNanoMed III-AC19/00080/ISCIII (CELLUX); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CA18/00045 and PI18/00219); and the European Social Fund, the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, which is part of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PTA2018-016371-I). A.D. was supported by PT13/0001/0041 PRB2-ISCIII-SGEFI-FEDER-PE I+D+i 2013–2016 and ISCIII-FEDER RETICS (Oftared; RD16/0008). We thank the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support

Effect of water application on wine quality and yield in ‘Carménère’ under the presence of a shallow water table in central Chile

Chile is the world’s leading producer of ‘Carménère’ (Vitis vinifera L.), which in turn is an important variety in Chile, where vineyards are typically grown under irrigated conditions and a large percentage are located in valleys with similar water table levels to those of the study area. Different irrigation management strategies have been used to improve wine quality, such as water stress and deficit irrigations, but the presence of a water table has not been considered in extant literature. This study analyzes the effects of the irrigation regime on grape yield and wine quality when a shallow water table is located between 1.5 to 2.2 m depth during the irrigation season. Five applied water treatments: 0%, 20%, 40%, 75%, and 100% of estimated vineyard evapotranspiration (ETc) were applied in an own-rooted ‘Carménère’ vineyard located in the Peumo Valley (Chile) during three consecutive seasons (2004-2005 to 2006-2007). Applying 1400 to 9400 m3 ha-1 per season (100% ETc) had no substantial effect on the measured quality parameters, although grape production in the treatment without irrigation (0% ETc) was significantly reduced. Applying water at 20% to 40% ETc produced high yield (13 to 16 t ha-1), double the historical mean production, and high quality wine with the presence of a water table close to the bottom of the root zone.Universidad de Concepción, ChileBMBF/CONICYT 231-2010Water Resources Center for Agriculture and MiningCONICYT/FONDAP/1513001

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Effect of the irrigation canal network on surface and groundwater interactions in the lower valley of the Cachapoal river, Chile [Efecto de la red de canales de riego en las interacciones de agua superficial y subterránea en la parte baja del valle del Río Cachapoal, Chile]

Agricultural production of high value crops in Chile's Central Valley is highly dependent on surface and groundwater resources. They are connected and together form an integrated hydrological system, the individual components of which have to be studied. This research is addressed to answering two questions: 1) to what extent do irrigation and canal seepage contribute to groundwater recharge and 2) what is the influence of the interactions between the Cachapoal River and ground water. The study was carried out from 2003 to 2007 in Peumo Valley (34.3° S, 71.3° W). In winter, the irrigation canal network intercepts and diverts surface runoff, which flows to flat areas and recharges groundwater. In summer, infiltration from the canals recharges the aquifer directly and partially compensates for water uptake from plants and evaporation. The effects of both interactions keep groundwater at a relatively constant level over the whole year. The water balance of the valley is strongly affected by agricultural practices, groundwater recharge mainly originating from irrigation loss (22%) and canal seepage (52%). It is important to know how management decisions, such as change in irrigation practices or canal lining, can affect the hydrological system and agricultural production within the valley.Chilean Government/FONDEF D02I-1146BMBF/CONICY

Furrow irrigation management and design criteria using efficiency parameters and simulation models [Criterios para manejo y diseno de riego por surcos utilizando parámetros de eficiencia y modelos de simulación]

This study analyzes the relationship between the variables of furrow irrigation and the irrigation performance parameters, crop yield, and deep percolation as a basis for furrow irrigation design and management. Application efficiency (AE), requirement efficiency (RE), requirement distribution efficiency (RDE), total distribution efficiency (TDE), and furrow irrigation management, operation, and design variables (inflow discharge, furrow length, and irrigation cutoff time) were correlated. The relationship between performance irrigation parameters and relative yield was also examined. In addition, environmental aspects related to leaching and runoff were also presented for each of the parameters. Study results indicate that increasing the length of the furrow reduces RE, RDE, and TDE values. However, an increase in inflow discharge and cutoff time increases efficiency. In contrast, an increase in furrow length increases AE while an increase in inflow discharge and cutoff time reduces it. Unlike AE, RE, RDE, and TDE parameters are well-correlated with relative yield. TDE and AE are recommended parameters for the design, management, and operation of furrow irrigation systems, in order to establish good irrigation practices, and to prevent contamination