This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the ...modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.
Cover crops improve the physical, chemical and biological quality of the soil and boost crop yield. However, the magnitude of the effects on the microbial activity in tropical soils of Cerrado is ...still little explored. This study aimed to evaluate the soil microbial attributes and soybean yield after cultivation of cover crops in a sandy clay loam oxisol under no-tillage system, in a region with weather dominated by a bimodal rainfall pattern (Aw type). The experiment was designed in randomized blocks, using a split-plot scheme, with different cover crops in the plots and different soil sampling times in the subplots. The cover crops treatments consisted of the previous cultivation of Crotalaria spectabilis (C. spectabilis), Crotalaria ochroleuca (C. ochroleuca), Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea); Urochloa ruziziensis (brachiaria) and Pennisetum glaucum (millet) as monocrop and the intercropping of millet + C. spectabilis and millet + C. ochroleuca. Soil samplings for microbial and chemical attributes evaluations were performed before soybean sowing and after soybean harvest, which occurred at 12 and 18 months after sowing the cover crops. Dry mass (DM) productions of cover crops at full vegetative development stage and soybean yield were also estimated. All the cover crops used in the present study, except the millet + C. spectabilis intercrop produced more than 6 Mg ha-1, with is considered the minimum amount of dry mass indicated as adequate for conservation systems under tropical conditions. Soil cultivated with brachiaria and millet showed higher microbial biomass at 18 months than at 12 months. Similarly, soil cultivated with C. ochroleuca, brachiaria, pigeon pea, millet + C. ochroleuca and millet + C. spectabilis showed higher microbial N at 18 months than at 12 months. Eighteen months after sowing of cover crops, millet maintained the highest soil microbial biomass (161.24 mug C g soil-1) and the millet + C. spectabilis intercrop exhibited the highest soil microbial N contents (30.02 mug N g soil-1) across treatments. Crotalaria ochroleuca, brachiaria, millet + C. ochroleuca and monoculture millet increased soybean yield cultivated in succession, after one single cycle of crop rotation.
Although nitrogen is the nutrient most required by maize, doses of N lower than those recommended are applied to maize grown in semiarid environments, which limits the achievement of profitable ...yields. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in soil fertility, nutritional status and dry matter production of maize plants fertilized with organic and mineral fertilizers in a semiarid region. A factorial experiment was carried out in Sobral, Ceará state, Brazil, in a randomized block design. The factors were two N sources (organic compost and urea), and four N rates: 27.5, 55, 110 and 165 kg ha
−1
, with three replications. We assessed variables associated with soil fertility, plant nutritional status, chlorophyll content, grain yield and total dry matter production. The highest rates of organic compost resulted in the highest levels of P (17.7 mg dm
−3
) and K (102.2 mg dm
−3
) in soil when compared to the control (7.7 and 69.0 mg dm
−3
, respectively). However, organic compost rates below 110 kg ha
−1
of N-equivalent fertilizer were not enough to supply the plants' demand for P and K. Low N rates promoted a decrease in soil inorganic N in the second year of application. Applying urea to maize plants led to greater dry matter production than organic compost in the second consecutive crop season. The use of organic compost at rates lower than 110 kg ha
−1
of N-equivalent fertilizer decreases soil fertility and has no impact on maize dry matter production.
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This study was performed to investigate the effects of composted tannery sludge (CTS) on the physical properties of tropical sandy soil after seven years of CTS application. CTS was applied to a ...Fluvisol at five rates (0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 Mg ha-1) in experimental plots (sized 20 m2) with four replications. Water infiltration into the soil was determined in the field with the concentric-ring infiltrometer method. Bulk density, total porosity, macroporosity, and microporosity were determined in the soil samples. The permanent CTS application altered the physical properties of the soil and led to a decrease in bulk density. The total porosity, microporosity and macroporosity values in the CTS-applied soil ranged from 44.1–51.7, 34.6–39.4, and 9.1–12.8%, respectively. Water-infiltration rates were significantly influenced by CTS. The cumulative infiltrated water in the soil varied from 21.3–34.7 cm. The basic infiltration rate was lower in the unamended soil and increased with an increase in the rate of CTS application. This study confirmed that the physical soil parameters improved after the permanent CTS application. Therefore, this application may be a suitable strategy for improving physical soil properties over time.
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Improving soil fertility with organic sources is crucial, particularly in degraded regions. Organic fertilizers, when integrated into systems, provide cost-effective solutions. This study aimed to ...assess the impact of various organic fertilizers on the establishment of an agroforestry system in Planosol in a semi-arid region of Ceará State, Brazil. We used a randomized block design arranged in split plots. Four organic fertilizer sources (sheep manure, cattle manure, carnauba palm straw, and control) were assigned to the main plots. Evaluation years for annual crops (2015, 2017, and 2019) and for trees (2015 through 2017, and 2019) were allocated to subplots, with three replicates. All organic fertilization sources received an annual rate of 10 t ha-1, broadcasted uniformly. Experimental plots, spanning 18 x 7 m, were intercropped with maize and cowpea between rows of trees (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia and Spondias mombin). We examined soil fertility, tree growth, and crop grain yield. Soil chemistry, notably P and K, showed marked improvement with sheep manure. Organic fertilization did not enhance tree growth in the newly established agroforestry system. However, organic fertilization elevated maize and cowpea grain yields by over 60% and 90%, respectively, compared to the control. In conclusion, the use of sheep manure, cattle manure, and carnauba palm straw can significantly boost maize and cowpea grain yields in an agroforestry system found in the semi-arid region of Ceará, Brazil.
This study aimed to estimate the nutrient absorption rate in soybean plants cultivated in succession to cover crops and under soil management systems. We performed two experiments with soybean grown ...on the remaining straw of Crotalaria spectabilis and Pennisetum glaucum (millet), under no-tillage (NT) and minimum tillage (MT), over the cropping years 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, in the Cerrado of Piauí state. The experimental design was a randomized blocks, arranged in split-plots. Plots corresponded to soil management systems and subplots to days after emergence (DAE) of soybean, with 3 replications. Nutrients contents were evaluated at 31, 38, 45, 52, 59, 66, 73, 80, 87, 94, 101, 108 and 115 DAE. Higher soybean dry matter (DM) production occurred in MT compared to no tillage. Crotalaria spectabilis enhanced accumulation of DM and N until stage R2. Accumulation of nutrients and DM in soybean cultivated on the straw of millet and C. spectabilis were similar across soil management systems. The phase of highest accumulation of nutrients and DM in soybean occurs between stages R5 and R7. All the nutrients, except Ca and Mn, are allocated to the grains during physiological maturity, in proportions higher than 50% of the total amount accumulated in soybean plants.
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infects millions of individuals worldwide. This protozoan is food and water-borne transmitted but blood transfusion and organ transplantation constitute alternative forms for transmission. However, ...the influence of IgG anti-
antibodies in molecular analysis carried out in peripheral blood still remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the serum IgG anti-
antibody concentrations correlate Nested PCR results in blood donors.
750 blood donors were enrolled. IgM and IgG anti-
antibodies were assessed by ELISA (DiaSorin, Italy). Nested PCR was performed with primers JW62/JW63 (288 bp) and B22/B23 (115 bp) of the
gene. The mean values of IgG concentration were compared for PCR positive and PCR Negative blood donors using the
-test or Mann-Whitney according to the normal distribution (
-value ≤ 0.05).
361 (48.1%) blood donors presented positive serology as follow: IgM
/IgG
: 5 (0.6%); IgM
/IgG
: 21 (2.8%); IgM
/IgG
: 335 (44.7%) and 389 (51.9%), negative serology. From 353 blood donors with positive serology tested, the Nested PCR was positive in 38 (10.8%) and negative in 315 (89.2%). There were no differences statistically significant between the mean values of serum IgG anti-
antibody concentrations and the Nested PCR results.
In conclusion, our data show that variations in the serum IgG anti-
antibody concentrations do not correlate
parasitemia detected by Nested PCR in chronically infected healthy blood donors.
Gastrointestinal parasitism is one of the factors that discourages farmers from raising small ruminants in cultivated pastures. To validate a soil treatment strategy to control the free-living stages ...of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), castor cake (CC) was used as a fertilizer on a pasture where sheep grazed on guinea grass under continuous stocking. On day zero, the pasture was divided into three paddocks, contaminated by GIN and treated, respectively, with CC divided into two applications (2CC1/2), CC in a single application (CC1) and organic compost in a single application (control). On day 21, eight GIN-free sheep were placed in each paddock. On day 58, significant differences (P<0.05) were observed: reduction of up to 66.10% in larvae.g-1 of dry mass in pastures fertilized with CC, decrease of up to 60.72% in infection rates among the animals in the groups treated with CC, higher average daily weight gain (over 185 g.day-1) and packed cell volume (over 26%) in the groups treated with CC, when compared to the control (128 g.day-1; 20.9%). In view of the results, the use of CC, mainly CC1, as a fertilizer for guinea grass pastures, under continuous stocking, proved to be promising, with 63.41% effectiveness in controlling worm infestations.
Conservation systems involving trees enhance the sustainability of tropical soils. However, little is known on the effect of integrated systems with native and exotic trees on soil chemical quality ...in the eastern Amazon. We aimed to measure changes in soil chemical quality in integrated production systems in Pindaré-Mirim, Maranhão, Brazil. This study was carried out in 2017 and 2018, evaluating (i) perennial pasture; (ii) crop–livestock–forest integration-I (CLFI-I)—eucalyptus rows interspersed with maize + Urochloa brizantha intercropping; (iii) CLFI-II—babassu palm trees (Attalea speciosa Mart.) with maize + Megathyrsus maximus intercropping; and (iv) maize + M. maximus intercropping. Soil chemical attributes at depths of 0.00–0.10 m, 0.10–0.20 m, 0.20–0.30 m, and 0.30–0.50 m, forage productivity, and soil cover were evaluated. CLFI-II promoted the highest soil organic matter concentration in topsoil and highest pH, lowest Al3+ levels, and potential acidity (H+Al) at all soil depths. Soil under pasture showed the highest N, K+, Ca2+ concentrations, sum of bases, and cation exchange capacity. Changes in CLFI-II are associated with the babassu palm’s ability to modulate the surrounding environment, giving the species a competitive advantage in anthropic environments. The time of adoption is crucial for improving soil fertility in the Brazilian eastern Amazon. Sustainable production systems in the region must comply with long-term management plans.
High rates of limestone have been increasingly utilized in newly converted areas for grain production in agricultural frontier regions to expedite the short-term correction of soil fertility, leading ...to compensatory yields. However, there is a lack of information about different doses of lime and gypsum for soils in the Cerrado of Matopiba, especially in the state of Piauí, Brazil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of doses of lime and gypsum in newly converted areas for soybean production in the Cerrado of Southwest Piauí. The study was carried out in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 crop years, on yellow Oxisol soil, in a randomized block design and treatments following a 5 × 4 factorial: five lime rates (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 t ha−1) and four gypsum rates (0, 1, 2 and 4 t ha−1), with four replicates. The standard lime and gypsum rates were 5 t ha−1 and 1 t ha−1, respectively. Soil fertility attributes (0.0–0.2, 0.2–0.4, and 0.4–0.6 m), nutritional status of plants, and soybean yield were measured. The increases in grain yield using a lime rate of 10 t ha−1 were 18% and 12% in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 crop years, respectively. High lime rates provide a reduction in the concentrations of P, K, and cationic micronutrients in soil, thereby reducing leaf contents of macro- and micronutrients in soybean plants. Concentrations of Ca, Mg, and S in subsurface layers were raised to proper levels, similar to those recommended for topsoil (0.0–0.2 m). The use of gypsum and lime in newly converted areas for soybean cultivation provides quick improvement in soil chemical conditions and reduction in acidity components. The application of 10 t ha−1 of lime improved the soil chemical environment in the Matopiba region the short time available for chemical reactions to occur, allowing soybean cultivation in newly converted areas of Cerrado into agriculture.
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