A B S T R A C TBrazilian semiarid region is marked by the constant incidence of droughts periods, which are climatic events responsible for great disorders for agricultural production, an activity traditionally based on subsistence agriculture. The study aimed at analyzing the evolution of bean production in the municipality of Itaporanga, Paraíba State, Brazil, between 2005, associating these results with local rainfall. It was performed the Principal Component Analysis. Six years of the 11-year series presented a value of annual precipitation lower than the historical mean of the municipality (838 mm). The crop area with beans in the municipality ranged from 5,560 hectares in 2006 to 150 hectares in 2013. There were large variations in the amount of bean production, with values ranging from 2 to 1,985 tons. The PCA recorded a value of 92.4% of explanation in the first two axes and demonstrated a strong correlation between the analyzed variables with the precipitation. Confirming that proper pluviometric indexes are determining factors on bean production in Itaporanga, Paraíba State, Brazil.

<p>Os serviços de saneamento básico prestados a uma parcela considerável da população que reside em áreas rurais apresentam elevado déficit de cobertura. Desta forma, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi obter um diagnóstico sobre a realidade do acesso aos serviços de saneamento na zona rural do município de Pombal-PB. A metodologia adotada consistiu na análise de dados oriundos do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística através do <strong>Sistema de Informações Georreferenciadas Estatcart e espacialização das informações por meio do <em>QGis</em> 2.6.0.</strong> Os resultados indicaram que a cobertura de domicílios, por um sistema de abastecimento de água, esgotamento sanitário e manejo de resíduos sólidos, é considerada ineficiente, uma vez que as residências não são atendidos ou tem um atendimento inferior a 20%. Contatou-se ainda uma desproporcionalidade dos serviços entre as zonas urbana e rural do município. A ausência de saneamento compromete a saúde da população. Logo, o diagnóstico do acesso aos serviços de saneamento é visto como uma ferramenta importante e necessária para implementação de políticas públicas que promovam melhoria da qualidade de vida dos moradores dessas localidades, bem como garantam a conservação do meio ambiente.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p align="center"><strong><em>Spatial analysis of sanitation services in the rural zone of Pombal, Paraíba State, Brazil</em></strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong>: </strong>Basic sanitation services that are provided to a considerable portion of the population living in rural areas have high deficit coverage. This paper aims at obtaining a diagnosis of access to sanitation services in the rural zones of Pombal, Paraíba State, Brazil. The methodology consisted of data analysing from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics through the Georeferenced Information System Estatcart and spatial information through QGIS 2.6.0. The results indicated that the residences coverage by water supply system, sewage system and solid waste collection, is considered inefficient, since they do not receive the services or have a coverage below 20%. It was also contacted a disproportionality of services between urban and rural areas in the municipality. The lack of sanitation affects the health of the population. Therefore, the diagnosis of access to sanitation services is seen as an important and necessary tool for the implementation of public policies that improve the quality of life of those who live in rural areas, as well as ensure the conservation of the environment.</p>

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Background: In the last decades, everal runoff-erosion models have been proposed to estimate soil erosion, which may lead to loss of fertile land and increase sedimentation and pollution in water bodies. Physically-based erosion models are usually used for such purpose, but a major problem concerning their use is the difficulty to directly measure parameters in the field. This problem can be overcome by exploring empirical models, such as so-called Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). An SOM is a type of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based on a competitive learning approach for clustering and modeling a variety of databases. Since studies on soil erosion modeling based on SOM are very incipient, we compared some structures of SOM with the purpose of estimating sediment yield based on runoff and climatological data at the micro-watershed scale. The case study was a micro-watershed within the Sumé Experimental Basin, which is located in a semiarid region of Brazil. Different from the conventional ANN, SOM-based models represent a multidimensional data set by means of a bidimensional matrix of features, which may be applied for analysis and estimation purposes. In order to calibrate and validate the proposed SOM structures, we used data from 117 rainfall events that occurred between 1985 and 1991. Results: Analyses of the results indicate that all SOM structures were efficiently calibrated with NASH coefficients (Nash & Sutcliffe 1970) varying from 0.88 to 0.90. The SOM structure with 6 × 8 neurons was the most effective for estimating sediment yields when considering the validation data set (NASH = 0.73). The generated maps showed that sediment yields were directly related to runoff and rainfall intensity and inversely correlated to average vegetation heights. The dry period length did not seem to influence the production of sediments. Conclusions: SOM were shown to be very practical and meant to be applied to specific locations. This type of methodology also demands long term data and dynamic recalibration with up-to-date information in order to account for changes in the watershed.

Resumo: Nos últimos anos, tem-se verificado um aumento da urbanização em muitas cidades brasileiras. Entretanto, a oferta dos serviços de saneamento básico não tem crescido na mesma proporção. Soma-se a isso as variações climáticas e a degradação ambiental. Diante do exposto, objetivou-se apresentar os principais problemas do saneamento ambiental na cidade de Pombal (PB), avaliando a relação desses com os problemas de saúde recorrentes na população. A execução desse trabalho seguiu as etapas de pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o tema, levantamento de dados primários e secundários, e finalmente, análise e discussão dos dados obtidos. Constatou-se, na área urbana, alguns problemas que contribuem para a degradação do ambiente e contaminação das águas do rio Piranhas, como o lançamento de esgoto doméstico sem tratamento e a disposição inadequada dos resíduos sólidos domésticos. Verificou-se que um maior número de internações ocorre justamente no período mais chuvoso, deixando claro a necessidade de investimento em saneamento básico. Os resultados obtidos atestam a relação entre a saúde pública, nível de saneamento básico, urbanização e conservação ambiental, não sendo possível pensar em ações que visem melhorar a saúde pública, sem pensar concomitantemente em ações de conservação ambiental e saneamento básico. Palavras-chave:Esgoto; Resíduos sólidos; Doenças. Abstract:In onlangse jare, daar is 'n toename van verstedeliking in baie Brasiliaanse stede. Egter die voorsiening van basiese sanitasie dienste dit nog gegroei teen dieselfde tempo. Voeg by dat die klimaat verander en omgewings agteruitgang. Op die bogenoemde, die doelwit van die aanbieding van die belangrikste probleme van omgewing sanitasie in die Stad van Pombal (PB), beoordeling van die verhouding van diegene met herhalende gesondheidsprobleme in die bevolking. Hierdie werk volg die stappe van bibliografiese navorsing oor die onderwerp, primêre en sekondêre data versameling, ontleding en bespreking van die data verkry. Dit was opgemerk, in die stedelike gebied, 'n paar probleme wat bydra tot omgewings agteruitgang en besoedeling van die waters van die rio Piranhas, soos die bekendstelling van huishoudelike riool sonder behandeling en onbehoorlike wegdoen van binnelandse vaste afval. Dit is gevind dat 'n groter getal van hospitaliserings kom juis in die wettest tydperk, maak duidelik die behoefte vir belegging in basiese sanitasie. Die resultate getuig van die verhouding tussen openbare gesondheid, basiese sanitasie, verstedeliking en Omgewingsbewaring, dit is nie moontlik om te dink van aksies gemik op die verbetering van openbare gesondheid, sonder denke by die dieselfde tyd in Omgewingsbewaring en sanitasie.