Guideline for constructing nutrient balance in historical agricultural systemes (and its application to three case-studies in southern Spain)

The purpose of this paper is to provide interested researchers with a simple tool to evaluate the efficacy of different methods of fertility replenishment that have accompanied and made possible the contemporary agriculture. We propose a nutrient balance model created especially to be applied to the past. In the first part of this working paper each term in the balance is defined and specified the information the user must input into the model. The second part of this paper reports on the application of this methodology based on the balances of nutrients to the evolution of Andalusian agriculture since the mid 18th Century. The nutrient balances show the effects of agrarian growth in an environmentally limited context, offering reasonable doubt regarding the medium and long-term stability of certain forms of cultivation. The balances show that in the last decades of the 19th Century, productive intensification had reached its ceiling, with livestock numbers levelling off or clearly declining. The deficits of nutrients even began to exceed the fertilisation capacity of the available livestock. The intensification applied in unfertilised rotations and crops had to be sustained through the extraction of soil reserves.Soil fertility management, Nutrient balances, Past organic agricultures, Agrarian growth, Socio-ecological transition, Agricultural change

Balanceo de las líneas de producción de la Tabacalera Oliva S.A de Estelí

Esta investigación aborda un análisis de tiempos en cada uno de los procesos productivos de la Tabacalera Olivas de Estelí S.A. describiendo la situación general en la que se encuentran laborando los trabajadores. Este estudio de tiempos no es más que una técnica para determinar con la mayor exactitud posible, partiendo de un número de observaciones, y el tiempo para llevar a cabo una tarea determinada con arreglo a una norma de rendimiento. Para el cumplimiento de los objetivos de la investigación, se efectuó una metodología fundamentada en el enfoque cuali-cuantitativo de investigación, se elaboró un instrumento tipo encuesta, y se determinó una muestra de 86 operarios; También se elaboró una entrevista y se efectuó un formato de observaciones directas. Esta investigación se clasifica como un estudio prospectivo, ya que se pretende registrar la información, según van ocurriendo los fenómenos. Según el periodo y secuencia del estudio es una investigación longitudinal debido a que se estudia más de una variable a lo largo de un período. El tiempo es importante puesto que las variables serán medidas en un período dado y es determinante en la relación causa efecto. Según análisis y alcance de los resultados se clasifica como una investigación descriptiva cuyo objetivo consiste en llegar a conocer las situaciones predominantes a través de la descripción exacta de las actividades y procesos

La conciliación extrajudicial como requisito de procedibilidad y sus “verdaderos” efectos en la congestión judicial. El caso de la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa

Both doctrine and jurisprudence have discussed the importance of settlement since they consider it as an “effective way” to deal with case backlogs that faces the administration of justice in Colombia. Therefore, the legislator and the government have established and promoted the settlement as a requisite before trial in contentious-administrative actions, through article 13 of 1285 Act of 2009. Today, four years after the implementation of the law, this paper analyzes the real effects of the aforementioned requisite in terms of: (i) reducing case backlogs in the contentious-administrative jurisdiction, and (ii) some economic effects that have emerged by the implementation of this requisite in the Colombian State.Tanto la doctrina como la jurisprudencia han discutido la importancia y necesidad de la conciliación por cuanto la consideran un “medio efectivo” para enfrentar la congestión judicial que afronta la administración de justicia en Colombia. Por ello, el legislador y el gobierno nacional han establecido e impulsado la conciliación extrajudicial como requisito de procedibilidad en materia contencioso-administrativa, a través del artículo 13 de la Ley 1285 de 2009. Hoy, cuatro años después de entrar a regir dicho requisito, el presente trabajo pretende analizar los verdaderos efectos del requisito de procedibilidad mencionado en cuanto a (i) la reducción de la congestión judicial en la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa y (ii) algunos efectos económicos que han surgido por la implementación de dicho requisito en el Estado colombiano

Effects of fiber inclusion on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of piglets reared under optimal or poor hygienic conditions

Two experiments were conducted to estimate the standardized ileal digestible (SID) Trp:Lys ratio requirement for growth performance of nursery pigs. Experimental diets were formulated to ensure that lysine was the second limiting AA throughout the experiments. In Exp. 1 (6 to 10 kg BW), 255 nursery pigs (PIC 327 × 1050, initially 6.3 ± 0.15 kg, mean ± SD) arranged in pens of 6 or 7 pigs were blocked by pen weight and assigned to experimental diets (7 pens/diet) consisting of SID Trp:Lys ratios of 14.7%, 16.5%, 18.4%, 20.3%, 22.1%, and 24.0% for 14 d with 1.30% SID Lys. In Exp. 2 (11 to 20 kg BW), 1,088 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050, initially 11.2 kg ± 1.35 BW, mean ± SD) arranged in pens of 24 to 27 pigs were blocked by average pig weight and assigned to experimental diets (6 pens/diet) consisting of SID Trp:Lys ratios of 14.5%, 16.5%, 18.0%, 19.5%, 21.0%, 22.5%, and 24.5% for 21 d with 30% dried distillers grains with solubles and 0.97% SID Lys. Each experiment was analyzed using general linear mixed models with heterogeneous residual variances. Competing heteroskedastic models included broken-line linear (BLL), broken-line quadratic (BLQ), and quadratic polynomial (QP). For each response, the best-fitting model was selected using Bayesian information criterion. In Exp. 1 (6 to 10 kg BW), increasing SID Trp:Lys ratio linearly increased (P 24.0%]) SID Trp:Lys ratio. For G:F, the best-fitting model was a BLL in which the maximum G:F was estimated at 20.4% (95% CI: [14.3%, 26.5%]) SID Trp:Lys. In Exp. 2 (11 to 20 kg BW), increasing SID Trp:Lys ratio increased (P < 0.05) ADG and G:F in a quadratic manner. For ADG, the best-fitting model was a QP in which the maximum ADG was estimated at 21.2% (95% CI: [20.5%, 21.9%]) SID Trp:Lys. For G:F, BLL and BLQ models had comparable fit and estimated SID Trp:Lys requirements at 16.6% (95% CI: [16.0%, 17.3%]) and 17.1% (95% CI: [16.6%, 17.7%]), respectively. In conclusion, the estimated SID Trp:Lys requirement in Exp. 1 ranged from 20.4% for maximum G:F to 23.9% for maximum ADG, whereas in Exp. 2 it ranged from 16.6% for maximum G:F to 21.2% for maximum ADG. These results suggest that standard NRC (2012) recommendations may underestimate the SID Trp:Lys requirement for nursery pigs from 11 to 20 kg BW

Immunogenicity of NS4b dengue 3 virus mimotope presented to the immune system as multiple antigen peptide system

The availability of random peptide libraries displayed on bacteriophage (RPL) has provided a powerful tool for selecting sequences that mimic binding properties of natural antigen epitopes (mimotopes). These mimotopes can be used for vaccine design, drug development, and diagnostic assays. Several mimotopes have been shown to induce production of antibodies against the natural antigen. We have previously identified four dengue virus mimotopes from a phage-displayed peptide library using antidengue 3 human sera. Three of them showed similarity in their amino acid sequences with the NS4b proteins of dengue. Few studies have examined the role of NS4b proteins in the antibody response to dengue virus infection. A multiple antigen peptide (MAP) system was chemically synthesized containing this mimotope (NS4b MAP), and BALB/c mice were immunized to evaluate its immunogenicity. Antipeptide responses were induced and recognised DENV-3 infected cells as determined by immunofluorescence. The high levels of the IgG2a subtype against NS4bMAP suggest the induction of a Th1-like response. Our findings suggest that the NS4b mimotope might be a useful tool for the development of multiepitope diagnostic assays, dengue virus vaccine design, and pathogenesis studies

Análisis de los aspectos ingenieriles de las redes SNF para la óptima canalización del espectro en servicios de DTV

El presente proyecto sobre análisis de los aspectos ingenieriles de las redes SNF para la óptima canalización del espectro en servicios de DTV, la cual conlleva el diseño de una red de frecuencia única (SFN; Single Frequency Network) para televisión digital terrestre por ser esta técnica un proceso de gran relevancia en la optimización de la canalización de señales televisivas

Análisis de la competitividad colombiana: Alianza del pacífico

36 Páginas.La competitividad de un país hoy en día toma un valor mucho más importante si se tiene en cuenta que el mercado de productos se maneja dependiendo a los costos. Es por esto que ente documenta busca mostrar que tan competitivo es Colombia comparado con sus pares que conforman el bloque Latinoamericano conocido como Alianza del Pacifico. Se busca comparar los índices principales de comercio y de competitividad proporcionados por el Banco Mundial y el Foro Económico Mundial. De aquí se concluye que algunos de los indicadores más importantes se encuentran en desventaja, sin embargo, los beneficios que tiene Colombia son mayores y el impacto en el largo plazo es muy importante y mantiene la competitividad en un rango estable.​

Guideline for constructing nutrient balance in historical agricultural systems (and its application to three case-studies in southern Spain)

The purpose of this paper is to provide interested researchers with a simple tool to evaluate the efficacy of different methods of fertility replenishment that have accompanied and made possible the contemporary agriculture. We propose a nutrient balance model created especially to be applied to the past. In the first part of this working paper each term in the balance is defined and specified the information the user must input into the model. The second part of this paper reports on the application of this methodology based on the balances of nutrients to the evolution of Andalusian agriculture since the mid 18th Century. The nutrient balances show the effects of agrarian growth in an environmentally limited context, offering reasonable doubt regarding the medium and long-term stability of certain forms of cultivation. The balances show that in the last decades of the 19th Century, productive intensification had reached its ceiling, with livestock numbers levelling off or clearly declining. The deficits of nutrients even began to exceed the fertilisation capacity of the available livestock. The intensification applied in unfertilised rotations and crops had to be sustained through the extraction of soil reserves

Mountain hay meadows: assessing the loss of surfaces and ecosystem services in Iberian areas

Hay meadows, agro-ecosystems established and maintained by human secular actions of extensive management, are disappearing all over Europe, especially in mountain areas where they represent key High Nature Value Farming systems for biodiversity and ecosystem services. In recent times, also mesophile hay meadows in South-West Europe, a European priority habitat registering a poor conservation status, have lost significant part of their area. This disappearance is due to abandonment, intensification or urbanisation, driven by changes in land management and rural socio-demographic decline. This study is aimed at assessing the loss of mountain hay meadows in the North of the Iberian Peninsula and its consequences for ecosystem services, focusing on selected pilot areas currently protected as Natura 2000 sites. A diachronic analysis of these habitats was carried out through detailed land use mapping for three different periods, from the 1960s to the present, representing areas covered by hay meadows over time. Once identified, land use changes during the time under consideration have been quantified and analysed, as well as the drivers responsible for those changes. The conceptual framework of the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment was then applied to identify and discuss the most relevant consequences of change on ecosystem services. Results showed that, over the last 60 years, some study areas have lost up to 74% of hay meadows progressively, although at a higher rate in the latest years. A relationship between abandonment and slope and distance to inhabited areas has been also observed. Findings suggest that the observed abandonment process may lead to a loss of biodiversity (domesticated species) and impacts in the supply of strategic ecosystem services such as genetic resources, safe and healthy food products, traditional knowledge or fire risk protection. Interactions between hay meadows loss, ecosystem services, demographic processes and agricultural structural changes are finally discussed.Authors thank EU Interreg SUDOE Programme and ERDF 2014-2020 for co-financing this study within the context of SOS PRADERAS Project (www.sospraderas.eu).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Supplementing the Diet of Dairy Goats with Dried Orange Pulp throughout Lactation: I. Effect on Milk Performance, Nutrient Utilisation, Blood Parameters and Production Economics

Dried orange pulp (DOP) can be incorporated into ruminant diets, but no reports have considered this strategy during the entire lactation period in goats. Two experiments were performed using lactating Payoya goats. In experiment 1, to study the effect, over 180 days, of DOP on milk yield and composition, blood metabolites and economic values, 44 primiparous goats were allocated into three groups: control diet (concentrate plus lucerne) and DOP40 and DOP80 diets, in which DOP replaced 40% and 80%, respectively, of the cereals. Nutrient digestibility and rumen fermentation were also studied (experiment 2). The DOP diets did not affect milk yield and composition. DOP triggered lower intake and digestibility of ether extract and crude protein. Ruminal fermentation was unaffected by DOP, except for a decrease in butyrate for DOP80. The energy balance was unaltered by diet while the balance and retention of nitrogen decreased. Regarding plasma biochemistry, DOP supplementation caused changes that could indicate an improvement in hepatic function and reduced muscular damage and oxidative muscular stress. Moreover, DOP80 provided a profit increase of EUR 3.27/goat. In conclusion, the partial replacement of cereals by DOP is a profitable and healthy nutritional strategy in dairy goats and is suitable for the entire lactation period without compromising productivity.The authors are grateful to Excma. Diputaci ón Provincial de Huelva (Spain) for their financial support, Cítricos del Andévalo, S.A. (García Carrión) for supplying pellets of dehydrated orange pulp and OVIPOR, Soc. Coop. for their contribution to the preparation of diets. The authors wish to thank the farm staff of Huelva University for their technical support and the Servicio General de Investigaci ón Agraria (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain) for technical assistance with laboratory analysi