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Flue gas emissions and particle size distribution were investigated during combustion experiments of wood, forest residue and mixtures of these two. The combustion experiments were carried out in a grate fired multi-fuel reactor with and without air staging at stable operation conditions and constant temperature of 850 °C. The overall excess air ratio was held at 1.6, and the primary excess air ratio was 0.8 during air staged experiments. NOx emissions are reduced by air staging. Fly ash particle concentration of forest residues in the flue gas is lower than wood. Aerosols number increased in the staged experiments for fuel blends.

We examine the factors influencing international banks' organizational form, using an original database on the operations in Latin America and Eastern Europe of the world's top 100 banks. We find that banks are more likely to operate as branches in countries that have ...

The Spanish banks increased the number of their branches nationwide during the years that preceded the current financial crisis. This development was comparatively greater among the credit cooperatives. The aim of this paper is to analyse the distribution by provinces of this increase in the number of branches of the credit cooperatives and to study the main factors that influenced this strategy. From this analysis, we conclude that the evolution of agricultural incomes or of the availability and use of banking services in each province are very important factors and remain conducive to differentiation between the behaviour of credit cooperatives and that of the rest of the banking system.

Microfinance in Uganda grew rapidly between 1998 and 2003 due to a combination of significant donor funding; a shared stakeholder vision for the sector, including active government support for the vision; skilled human resources; and intensive collaboration among the major stakeholders (practitioner organizations, donor agencies, and government bodies). At the end of 2003, approximately 1,500 microfinance institutions (MFIs) were serving more than 935,000 small savers and close to 400,000 borrowers in the country. The Ugandan parliament passed the Micro Deposit-Taking Institution Act in 2003, which created the conditions for MFIs to become regulated, deposit taking institutions. Shared stakeholder vision, skilled human resources, and intensive stakeholder collaboration have been the three major drivers of effective microfinance in Uganda. The report finds that if microfinance in Uganda is to continue to flourish, a number of challenges must also be resolved. Resolution of these chal...

Four tree species were harvested periodically over a 13-year period from plantations in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica: Cedrela odorata, Cordia alliodora, Hyeronima alchorneoides, and Euterpe oleracea. The soil was a well-drained, volcanic alluvium, and high fertility coupled with 4m of annual rainfall and high temperatures led to rapid growth rates; at age 13 many individual were >30cm dbh

Spilanthes acmella (Asteraceae) is an endangered ornamental cum medicinal annual herb. This study reports on the effect of two arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus mosseae and Acaulospora laevis) applied either alone or in combination on post-transplanting performance of micropropagated S. acmella. Complete plantlets of S. acmella were raised by direct organogenesis from nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with various cytokinins. S. acmella plantlets responded to all three mycorrhizal treatments in a significantly different way. G. mosseae enhanced the survival rate of S. acmella plantlets to 100%. Plant height, plant spread, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, biomass production, and chlorophyll content were significantly higher in AM inoculated plantlets as compared to the uninoculated ones. This clearly demonstrates that AM inoculation improved not only the survival rate of micropropagated plantlets but also their growth and...

The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have galvanized the development community with an urgent challenge to improve the welfare of the world's neediest people. Donor agencies are orienting their programming around the attainment of the MDGs and are mobilizing new resources to reduce hunger and poverty, eliminate HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases, empower women and improve their health, educate all children, and lower child mortality. 1 The MDGs are framed as concrete outcomes in the ...

Context: Jodina rhombifolia (Hook. & Arn.) Reissek (Santalaceae) it´s used in folk medicine for treat a great diversity of health problems. Aims: To evaluate the diuretic activity of aerial parts methanolic extract (leaves, bark, phloem, and branches of approximately three years) in Wistar rats. Methods: The experimentation was organized with a negative control group (saline solution), a positive control (furosemide; 10 mg/kg) and for each methanolic extract were established three groups of animals that received doses of 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg of weight in normal saline solution. Results: The maximum diuretic activity observed in-group administered with leaves methanolic extract followed of phloem extract. The dose 250 mg/kg of leaves methanolic extract was the more potent and equally important, result the dose 500 mg/kg, which supposes an interesting excretor effect of water for a phytodiuretic. These registers of diuresis in Wistar rats did not show significant statistically results with the positive control group. Furthermore, the onset of diuretic activity of leaves methanolic extract was extremely rapid, within the first hour of administration (for all doses). Conclusions: This study contribute to scientific validation of the ethnomedical use of this botanic species in folk medicine of South America as diuretic agent, although further studies are necessary to evaluate the mechanisms involved in biological activity and safety following repeated use.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of rising temperature on growth and physiological characteristics in chickpea genotypes. Plants of Pusa 1108 and Pusa 1053 (both kabuli type) were raised in earthenware pots under natural environment. One set of plants was raised in a polycover and exposed to high temperature (3.1oC above ambient) through out the growth period. Similarly, two sets of plants were exposed to high temperature at flowering and podding for short duration of ten days only. Plants of both the cultivars grown at high temperature through out the growth period exhibited enhanced vegetative growth in terms of increased shoot length, production of more number of branches, leaf area and dry weight accumulation per plant. Rate of photosynthesis increased, stomatal conductance decreased but membrane stability and proline concentration was higher in plants of both cultivars under high temperature but no significant changes were observed in relative water content and t...

This study aimed to identify food items of the Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) flocks foraging at firebreaks in western Cerrado, Brazil. Also, I discuss ecological aspects of macaw feeding activities at firebreaks. Two 3,500ha portions of Emas National Park were selected for observations. The sites were mosaics of woodland savanna and shrubby grassland, crossed and bordered by firebreaks and adjacent unsealed roads. A total of 76 foraging flocks of macaws were recorded at firebreaks between September 2006 and February 2007. Seven plant species were identified as food items. Seeds of a shrub species (Anacardium humile) were the most often consumed resource. Parts of other plant species were sometimes consumed. Macaws perched in tree canopies to consume their young apical parts, young leaves, flowers and parts of branches. The frequency of consumption of parts of shrubs was significantly higher than that of trees. At Emas National Park, numerous Blue-and-yellow Macaw flocks are a...

O uso de água salina na irrigação torna-se importante alternativa diante daescassez de água de boa qualidade em todo o mundo. O pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas L.) possui baixa exigência hídrica, sobrevive e apresenta produção satisfatória em solos de baixa fertilidade. No entanto, a sua produção é maior em cultivos irrigados, o que reforça a necessidade de desenvolvimento de pesquisas para uso de água salina. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o efeito de diferentes níveis de salinidade da água de irrigação nas características morfofisiológicas de mudas de pinhão-manso. Para isso, foi conduzido experimento em casa de vegetação com interceptação de 50 % da radiação solar, localizada na Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Ipameri, Goiás. O experimento foi conduzido em vasos com capacidade de 4 L de solo, utilizando-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro tratamentos e cinco repetições. As plantas foram irrigadas diariamente com 150 mL de água não salina, durante os 30 primeiros...

RESUMEN La actual crisis financiera internacional está actuando como catalizador de un profundo proceso de cambio en el sector bancario español que está afectando también a las entidades de crédito de la Economía Social: cajas de ahorros y cooperativas de ...