Sustainability of intensive groundwater development: experience in Spain

Intensive aquifer development is common in arid and semiarid countries. The associated economic and social benefits are great, but management is needed and sustainability has to be analysed in the framework of a sound hydrogeological background which includes recharge as a key term. Recharge under natural conditions may greatly differ from the actual value under groundwater exploitation conditions when the aquifer is connected to surface water bodies or evaporation conditions are modified. Actual recharge is not an aquifer property but is variable depending on groundwater abstraction and its pattern, and changes in surface water-groundwater relationships and other circumstances, such as return irrigation flows, leakages, and activities to artificially modify it. Groundwater plays an important role in nature as it sustains spring flow, river base flow, wetlands, and crypto-wetlands, and the related provision of ecological services to mankind. Therefore, developable groundwater resources and their sustainability have to take into account concurrence and the net benefits of capturing it in a given moment and not in other circumstances, and exchanging groundwater-related nature services for the human use of groundwater. The often large storage relative to annual flow of aquifers implies that aquifer development produces effects that may last decades and even affect upcoming human generations. This new dimension, which has economic and sustainability aspects, is not as important for other water resources. Critical flow thresholds have to be considered for groundwater-dependent ecosystems. This is considered from the point of view of water quantity, which is the dominant aspect under arid and semiarid conditions. However, water quality may be as or more important for humans and for nature services, but this needs a separate treatment. The hydrogeological and socio-economic aspects of aquifer behaviour are presented taking into account the experience drawn from some intensively exploited and economically and socially important aquifers, mostly those in La Mancha, in central Spain, but also other intensively exploited Spanish aquifers. Topdown-down administrative decisions to get a given sustainable have resulted in partial failures, but if action is agreed among stakeholders better outcomes could be achieved. Mixed solutions seem the best approach

Indirect costs of financial distress

We estimate the indirect costs of financial distress due to lost sales by exploiting real estate (RE) shocks and cross-supplier variation in RE assets and leverage. We show that for the same client buying from different suppliers, the client’s purchases from distressed suppliers decline by an additional 13% following a drop in local RE prices. The effect is more pronounced in more competitive industries, manufacturing, durable goods, less-specific goods, and when the costs of switching suppliers are low. Our results suggest that clients reduce their exposure to suppliers in financial distress

Cytocentrifugation as an additional method to study echinoderm coelomocytes: A comparative approach combining living cells, stained preparations, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy

Introduction: Echinoderm coelomocytes have traditionally been investigated through a morphological approach using light microscopy, which relies on the idea of constant cell shape as a stable character. However, this can be affected by biotic or abiotic conditions. Objective: To analyze if the consistency in cell morphology offered by the cytocentrifugation method, might be used as a convenient tool to study echinoderm coelomocytes. Methods: Cells of Echinaster (Othilia) brasiliensis (Asteroidea), Holothuria (Holothuria) tubulosa (Holothuroidea), Eucidaris tribuloides, Arbacia lixula, Lytechinus variegatus, and Echinometra lucunter (Echinoidea) were spread on microscope slides by cytocentrifugation, stained, and analyzed through light microscopy. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy were applied to cytospin preparations, to complement the analysis of granular and colorless spherulocytes of Eucidaris tribuloides. Results: Altogether, 11 cell types, including phagocytes, spherulocytes, vibratile cells, and progeni-tor cells were identified in the samples analyzed. The granular spherulocyte, a newly-described cell type, was observed in all Echinoidea and was very similar to the acidophilic spherulocytes of Holothuria (Holothuria) tubulosa. Conclusions: Cytocentrifugation proved to be versatile, either as the main method of investigation in stained preparations, or as a framework on which other procedures may be performed. Its ability to maintain a constant morphology allowed accurate correspondence between live and fixed/stained cells, differentiation among similar spherulocytes as well as comparisons between similar cells of Holothuroidea and Echinoidea

The efficacy of an EMR-enabled text messaging system to the expanded health beliefs, diabetes care profile and HbA1c of diabetes mellitus patients

As diabetes mellitus (DM) becomes a global emergency, there is a need to explore novel interventions to address problems in self – management. Literature agree in the potential of mobile phones to carry-out self-care for a wide-array of disease conditions. Diabetes Self – Management Support and Education Through Text – Messaging (DSMSET) is a low-cost, two-way text messaging system designed to deliver self - help, educational messages based on the nine (9) dimensions of health management. DSMSET serves as a plugin to SHINE OS+, an open – source electronic medical record (EMR) system. The research is also based on the Expanded Health Belief Model and explores the efficacy of SMS in improving Expanded Health Beliefs, Diabetes Care Profile and in decreasing HbA1C of adult patients with DM. A two-arm, randomized controlled trial, a total of 122 eligible subjects from UERM PO Domingo OPD Services Department of Medicine and Sweet Diabetics Club based in CHAMP Wellness Clinic were enrolled. Using simple table random digits, subjects were divided equally to trial arms between SMS and non – SMS. The SMS group received DSMSET intervention for 90 days and were required to reply pre-set codes. Both groups answered two sets of survey questionnaires. Patient profile data including demographics for both groups were collected using SHINE OS+ before and after 90-day period. At follow-up, 110 participants were distributed equally and were subjected to analysis with descriptive and inferential statistics using STATA15 and SPSS23. Results show that Total Expanded Health Belief Scores (8 Constructs), Diabetes Care Profile Score, Likelihood to Take Action Score of the SMS group increased compared to the non-SMS group. Combined Expanded Health Belief Scores also showed modest improvement. However, SMS group posted relatively unchanged HbA1c levels while the non-SMS group had increased HbA1c on average

Caracterización preliminar de las interacciones aguas subterráneas-humedales-ser humano en Iberoamérica y en la Península Ibérica

El proyecto UNESCO IGCP 604 tiene como objetivo elaborar un marco conceptual sobre las interacciones aguas subterráneas–humedales-ser humano, y está motivado por el Programa de Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio de Naciones Unidas. Como resultados preliminares se ha elaborado información de catorce humedales en nueve países. Sus características morfológicas, hidrológicas, químicas, etc. son muy variables. Solamente los servicios de abastecimiento de agua y de regulación hídrica parecen estar ampliamente extendidos, con una tendencia dominante a mantenerse estables o a empeorar. Todos los servicios culturales son frecuentes y muestran una tendencia mayoritaria a mejorar. Entre los factores que inducen cambios en los servicios, los de impacto más extendido son: extracción de agua, cambios en el uso de suelo, contaminación y cambio climático y global. Presentan impactos variables, pero la tendencia general es a mantenerse estables o a aumentar.This paper presents the preliminary results of The UNESCO project IGCP 604, whose objec-tive is to elaborate a conceptual framework on groundwater-wetland-human beings interactions, and is moti-vated by the UNESCO Millennium Ecosystems Assessment Programme. Data from fourteen wetlands in nine countries have been elaborated. Their morphological, hydrological, chemical, etc. characteristics are highly variable. Only the water supply and water regulation services seem to be widely extended, and their general evolution trend is to be stable or to worsen. All the cultural services seem to be widely extended, and the dominant trend is to improve. The factors that most widely induce changes in wetland services are water ex-traction, biological exploitation, changes in land use, pollution, and climate and global change. They cause variable impacts, which tend to be stable or to increase

Do agri-food market incentives improve food security and nutrition indicators? a microsimulation evaluation for Kenya

The sustainable development goal #2 aims at ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Given the numbers of food insecure and malnourished people on the rise, the heterogeneity of nutritional statuses and needs, and the even worse context of COVID-19 pandemic, this has become an urgent challenge for food-related policies. This paper provides a comprehensive microsimulation approach to evaluate economic policies on food access, sufficiency (energy) and adequacy (protein, fat, carbohydrate) at household level. The improvement in market access conditions in Kenya is simulated as an application case of this method, using original insights from households’ surveys and biochemical and nutritional information by food item. Simulation’s results suggest that improving market access increases food purchasing power overall the country, with a pro-poor impact in rural areas. The daily energy consumption per capita and macronutrients intakes per capita increase at the national level, being the households with at least one stunted child under 5 years old, and poor households living areas outside Mombasa and Nairobi, those which benefit the most. The developed method and its Kenya's application contribute to the discussion on how to evaluate nutrition-sensitive policies, and how to cover most households suffering food insecurity and nutrition deficiencies in any given country