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Item Comparing Current and Future Land Suitability for Growing Rainfed Corn (Zea mays) in Georgia, USAAutores: Kerry, Ruth; Ingram, Ben; Golden, Connor S.Land suitability (LS) classifications are essential for efficient and sustainable agricultural land use. With climate change, future LS classifications are necessary to ensure that crop growth remains sustainable and prevents land degradation. This study develops a current LS classification for rainfed corn (Zea mays) growth in the state of Georgia, USA, which is validated using historical census data on yield, acres planted, and corn crop lost. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were found between yield, acres planted, and crop loss percentage across LS classes for many years. Soil factors (Ph and soil texture) showed significant differences in fewer years compared to climate and topography factors, as soil factors can be altered by management practices such as liming and irrigation. Future LS classes determined by climate factors indicated a shift to the northwest of 150–300 km by the year 2100 based on the RCP4.5 or RCP8.5 emissions scenarios. The northwards shift in more suitable land due to rising maximum temperatures is expected to limit rainfed corn growth in Georgia in the future. As urban areas become more suitable for corn growth, farmers may need to plant crops earlier, irrigate, or switch to different crops. These results have important implications for agricultural planning and policy in the state of Georgia.Item An optimized relational database for querying structural patterns in proteinsAutores: Angles, Renzo; Arenas Salinas, Mauricio; García, Roberto; Ingram, BenA database is an essential component in almost any software system, and its creation involves more than just data modeling and schema design. It also includes query optimization and tuning. This paper focuses on a web system called GSP4PDB, which is used for searching structural patterns in proteins. The system utilizes a normalized relational database, which has proven to be inefficient even for simple queries. This article discusses the optimization of the GSP4PDB database by implementing two techniques: denormalization and indexing. The empirical evaluation described in the article shows that combining these techniques enhances the efficiency of the database when querying both real and artificial graph-based structural patterns.Item Increases in the Amounts of Agricultural Surfaces and Their Impact on the Sustainability of Groundwater Resources in North-Central ChileAutores: Pizarro, Roberto; Borcoski, Francisca; Ingram, Ben; Bustamante Ortega, Ramóin; Sangüesa, Claudia; Ibáñez, Alfredo; Toledo, Cristóbal; Vidal, Cristián; García Chevesich, Pablo A.Water is a fundamental resource for Chile's productive structure, which is more important in arid areas, and especially with agricultural uses. This study was based on two basins (Cogot & iacute; and Illapel) located in the Coquimbo Region of north-central Chile. In this region, surface water rights were closed in 2002 and the only current option is the use of groundwater. These basins have high water demands due to the use of surface and groundwater for agricultural purposes, a fact that should influence the sustainability of groundwater reserves over time. The objective of this study was to determine how much agricultural use has affected the availability of groundwater in two basins. Under the previous context, the evolution of agricultural irrigation surfaces was evaluated using Landsat images and forest classifications. Similarly, groundwater reserves were evaluated using the recessive curves of hydrographs associated with the beginning of each hydrological year. The results show an increase in the agricultural area between 1996 and 2016, with a subsequent decrease, while groundwater reserves denoted significant decreases over time. In conclusion, a significant decrease in the volumes of groundwater reserves in both basins was observed, a decrease that is consistent with the increase in irrigated areas.
