Search results for "PRODUCTIVITY"
showing 10 items of 618 documents
Turnover and availability of soil organic carbon under different Mediterranean land-uses as estimated by13C natural abundance
2013
Summary Soil organic matter (SOM) is an important factor in ecosystem stability and productivity. This is especially the case for Mediterranean soils suffering from the impact of human degradation as well as harsh climatic conditions. We used the carbon (C) exchange resulting from C3-C4 and C4-C3 vegetation change under field conditions combined with incubations under controlled conditions to evaluate the turnover and availability of soil organic C under different land-uses. The 40-year succession of Hyparrenia hirta L. (C4 photosynthesis) after more than 85 years of olive tree (Olea europaea L.; C3 photosynthesis) growth led to the exchange of 54% of soil organic C from C3 to C4 forms. In …
Revisiting agricultural modernisation: Interconnected farming practices driving rural development at the farm level
2019
Abstract Rural development related to agriculture can roughly be divided into two trajectories: 1) agri-industrial development or modernisation, and 2) multifunctional or even post-productivist rural development. The role of these trajectories varies in different rural settings, with different emphases on agricultural production and its conduct. At the farm level, the trajectories evolve from existing farming practices and their connections, which enable or disable different kinds of development. However, the connections through which changes in agricultural production practices contribute to different rural development trajectories deserve further scrutiny. This is addressed with the help …
Annual pollen traps reveal the complexity of climatic control on pollen productivity in Europe and the Caucasus
2010
Annual PAR (pollen accumulation rates; grains cm−2 year−1) were studied with modified Tauber traps situated in ten regions, in Poland (Roztocze), the Czech Republic (two regions in Krkonoše, two in Šumava), Switzerland (4 regions in the Alps), and Georgia (Lagodekhi). The time-series are 10–16 years long, all ending in 2007. We calculated correlations between pollen data and climate. Pollen data are PAR summarized per region (4–7 traps selected per region) for each pollen type (9–14 per region) using log-transformed, detrended medians. Climate data are monthly temperature and precipitation measured at nearby stations, and their averages over all possible 2- to 6-month windows falling within…
Fire and phylogenetic structure of soil microbial communities in Mediterranean ecosystems
2017
Tesis llevada a cabo para conseguir el grado de Doctor por la Universidad de Valencia.--2018-02-21.--Sobresaliente Cum laudem
Complex responses of global insect pests to climate change
2018
AbstractInsect pests strongly affect the productivity and profitability of agriculture and forestry. Despite the well-known sensitivity of insects to abiotic effects such as temperature, their potential responses to ongoing climate change remain unclear. Here we compile and review documented climate change responses of 31 of the globally most impactful phytophagous insect pests, focussing on species for which long-term, high-quality data are available. Most of the selected species show at least one response affecting their severity as pests, including changes in geographic range, population dynamics, life-history traits, and/or trophic interactions. Of the studied pests, 41% only show respo…
Assessing drought vulnerability and adaptation among farmers in Gadaref region, Eastern Sudan
2018
Agricultural productivity in rural areas is severely affected by climate variability, and this elevates the vulnerability of rural households to food insecurity. This study examines the socio-economic vulnerability of farmers who are susceptible to droughts in the five agricultural-based regions of Gadaref, Eastern Sudan. A survey was carried out in 500 households to collect data on socio-economic and livelihood indicators. The data analyzed from these indicators were used to generate the three components of drought vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The analysis revealed that the regions deemed to be most vulnerable to both drought and climate variability were also…
The impact of a worksite migraine intervention program on work productivity, productivity costs, and non-workplace impairment among Spanish postal se…
2004
Migraine is associated with a significant productivity loss to employers, who may benefit from making a migraine intervention available to their employees.To evaluate changes in migraine-related productivity and non-workplace impairment associated with a migraine intervention program from the employer perspective.This was a pre-test post-test study of Spanish Postal Service employees with migraine. The intervention consisted of counseling from occupational health physicians and rizatriptan 10 mg for symptomatic treatment of two subsequent migraine headaches. Physicians also prescribed additional medications for migraine prophylaxis, treatment of tension headaches, and rescue medications. Mi…
Tiotropium add-on therapy reduces seasonal peaks of asthma worsening in adults with symptomatic severe asthma
2019
Despite the use of preferred controller therapies (including inhaled corticosteroids [ICS] with or without additional long-acting β2-agonists [LABAs]), a large proportion of patients with asthma have poor disease control, leaving them at risk of recurring symptoms and episodes of asthma exacerbations and worsening [1, 2]. Such problems can be triggered by many different environmental factors including pollutants, respiratory infections or allergens [3]. They may occur sporadically, but are often determined by seasons, mirroring seasonal patterns of allergen exposure and prevalence of respiratory viral infection [3, 4]. They can cause reduced quality of life, increase asthma burden [2, 3], a…
Regional income convergence in Colombia: population, space, and long-run dynamics
2022
We examine the trajectory of regional income dynamics in Colombia. Using data on all 33 Colombian departments from 2000 to 2016, we employ extensions of (spatial) Markov chains, space-time mobility measures, along with a fully weighted version of the distribution analysis approach. By considering these extensions, our analysis enables us to answer questions such as whether the role of spatial context influences the distributional dynamics of Colombian departments, or the magnitude of the moderating effect of department’s population. The inclusion of additional measures such as the asymptotic half-life of convergence provides additional results, informing on how long it would take to reach t…
Job contact networks, inequality and aggregate output
2005
In this paper we study the effects of social networks on wage inequality and aggregate production. In particular, we consider a simplified version of the model by Calvo'-Armengol and Jackson (2003), with good and bad jobs and skilled and unskilled workers. Our findings are: i) increasing the number of social links increases aggregate output and may reduce inequality; ii) given a number of social connections, output increases if the average distance among worker decreases; iii) a more mixed and well-integrated society, that is a society in which heterogeneous workers share social links, produces more output and less inequality than a society in which some workers are isolated, when productiv…