357 research outputs found
Participatory Building of a Decision Support System for Adaptive Water Management in the Upper Guadiana Basin
No full textWater management has evolved in the last years towards more integrated and participatory approaches, aiming at improving the adaptability of water systems. Following this line, we propose a methodology to build a decision support system, based on the participation of stakeholders and the integration of the different disciplines involved in water use, as well as the inclusion of uncertainties in the management planning. The process has been implemented in the Upper Guadiana basin (Spain) with the aim of solving the existing conflicts: the aquifer, which is the main water source in the area, has been over-exploited during the last decades for irrigation. This has lead to serious degradation of natural water-related ecosystems and important social conflicts. The river basin authority has tried to implement different policies to attain the aquifer recovery, so far without much success. At present, a new management plan specifically for the Upper Guadiana has been approved, where some policy measures are proposed for attaining the reduction of agricultural water consumption. The methodology proposed in this work is based on the combination of a Bayesian network and an economic mathematical programming model, elaborated with the active participation of stakeholders. The resulting DSS will be used to evaluate different management options, within those included in the Special Plan of the Upper Guadiana, in terms of their impacts on the agricultural income and the environmental sustainability. Results show that new measures would not be successful unless they are accompanied by an increase of compliance of farmers with water regulations.Decision support system, Bayesian networks, economic model, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Megarthrus cavianae Rodriguez, Navarrete-Heredia & Arriaga-Varela 2020, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Megarthrus cavianae</i> Rodríguez, Navarrete-Heredia & Arriaga-Varela sp. nov. <p>(Figs 27-39)</p> <p>http://zoobank.org:act: F4814244-2EA7-493D-8086-01CC754585C0</p> <p> <b>Type material.</b> (3♂, 2♀). <b>Holotype</b> ♂: labeled <b>“</b> MÉXICO: Veracruz, San Andrés Tlalnelhuayocan, Piedra Parada, 19°30’58.6’’N 97°00’34.4’’W, 1522 msnm, Fragmento de Bosque Mesófilo de Montaña ripario, Cernido de Hojarasca húmeda, extraída en Winkler, 5.V.2013, F. Alvarado, E. Arriaga, R. Chavero cols”, in CZUG. <b>Paratypes (4)</b>: labeled <b>“</b> MÉXICO: Veracruz, Xico, Matlalapa, 19°26’24.8»N 97°02’37.2»W, 1532 msnm. Fragmento de Bosque Mesófilo de Montaña ripario, Cernido de Hojarasca húmeda, extraída en embudo de Berlesse, 20.VI.2012. F. Escobar, F. Alvarado, R. Chavero cols”, 1♀ in CZUG, 1♂ in IEXA, and 1 ♂, 1♀ in MHNG.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> Similar to <i>M. chiapas</i> from which it differs as follows: Habitus as in Fig. 29. Combined length of pronotum and elytra = 1.0 - 1.4 mm; maximal pronotal width = 0.7 - 1.1 mm. Antennae as in Fig. 36. Elytra with humeral callus strongly convex; disc with humeral callus strongly convex, two conspicuous swellings similar to humeral callus along anterior and posterior portions of suture, moderately depressed posteriorly along lateral edge. Male: Frontoclypeal area not modified. Protarsomere 1 lacking ventral patch of modified adhesive setae. Mesofemora (Fig. 33) as long as metafemora. Mesotibiae (Fig. 34) shorter than metatibiae (Fig. 35), the latter slightly compressed subapically. Peg-like setae present only on mesotrochanters (Fig. 33; arranged in a single row), on distal two thirds of mesotibiae (Fig. 34; grouped in a field) and on distal half of metatibiae (Fig. 35; grouped in a field). Apical segments of abdomen similar to those in Figs 10-15 & 18; tergite VIII as in Figs 38, with apex sinuate in dorsal view. Aedeagus as in Figs 32 & 37, with dorsal valve triangular.</p> <p> <i>Female</i>: Abdominal tergite forming a medioapical projection, with dorsal outline subangulate subapically in lateral view VIII (Fig. 31). Sternite VIII as in Fig. 30. Genital segments similar to those in Figs 19-21; gonocoxal plate without mediodorsal ridge.</p> <p> <b>Comparisons and diagnostic notes.</b> <i>Megarthrus cavianae</i> Rodríguez, Navarrete-Heredia & Arriaga-Varela <b>sp. nov.</b> is similar to <i>M. chiapas</i> Cuccodoro <b>sp. nov</b>., from which it differs by its more pronounced elytral relief, as well as several other features detailed in <i>Comparisons and diagnostic notes</i> under <i>M. chiapas</i>.</p> <p> <b>Distribution and natural history.</b> <i>Megarthrus cavianae</i> Rodríguez, Navarrete-Heredia & Arriaga-Varela <b>sp. nov</b>. is apparently restricted to Mountain Cloud Forests in the south of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (Fig. 39). The specimens were collected from sifted leaf litter in riparian remnants of cloud forests at an elevation of approximately 1500 m.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The specific name is a composite word in honor to Carmen Moreno Jiménez, Virginia de Jesús Rodríguez, Ana Cricelia Rodríguez, and Ana María Jiménez, in recognition of their unconditional support of the first author.</p>Published as part of <i>Rodríguez, William David, Navarrete-Heredia, José L., Arriaga-Varela, Emmanuel & Cuccodoro, Giulio, 2020, Two new species of Megarthrus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Proteininae) from Mexican Cloud Forests, pp. 571-583 in Zootaxa 4778 (3)</i> on pages 578-581, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4778.3.8, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3828825">http://zenodo.org/record/3828825</a>
3.2. Autonomie, réduction et réflexivité : la philosophie naturelle de Francisco J. Varela et le projet transcendantal
No full textAutonomy, reduction and reflexiveness : Francisco J. Varela's natural philosophy and the transcendental project.
By tightly linking together phenomenological reduction and the construction of a non representational scientific knowledge, biologist Francisco Varela meets German idealism's, particularly Fichte's, main issue. This issue was : rethinking the transcendental core of cognition beyond the subjective -objective divide, i.e. as life and autonomy. On that basis, the author of this chapter traces Varela's notions of biological identity and autonomy to the refusal of any exteriority by this transcendental trend. And he would go along as far as distinguishing between two versions of autonomy : autonomy as decision and project and autonomy as circularity and self-closing (referring to the recursive reflexiveness of Pierre Livet' s reading of Fichte in the perspective of self-organizing systems theory. 1987).Associant étroitement la réduction phénoménologique et la construction d'un savoir scientifique non représentationaliste, le biologiste Francisco Varela rejoint la problématique centrale de l'idéalisme allemand, et notamment de Fichte, celle d'une détermination du transcendantal comme au-delà du subjectif et de l'objectif, c'est-à-dire comme vie et comme autonomie. L'auteur de l'article souligne, dès lors, l'étroite solidarité entre ce transcendantalisme négateur de l'extériorité et la conception varélienne de l'identité et de l'autonomie biologiques. Il évoque la lecture de Fichte par Pierre Livet en 1987 dans le sillage des théories de l' auto-organisation, et oppose à la notion de réflexivité recursive mise en œuvre dans cette lecture, par quoi l'autonomie se comprend comme circularité et clôture sur soi, une compréhension de l'autonomie comme décision et projet.Goddard Jean-Christophe. 3.2. Autonomie, réduction et réflexivité : la philosophie naturelle de Francisco J. Varela et le projet transcendantal. In: Intellectica. Revue de l'Association pour la Recherche Cognitive, n°36-37, 2003/1-2. Repenser le corps l'action et la cognition avec les neurosciences, sous la direction de Jean-Luc Petit. pp. 205-225
Sobrevivência de Listeria monocytogenes em salame tipo italiano de baixa acidez, produzido sob condições brasileiras de fabricação
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agrárias. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência dos AlimentosO baixo risco dos salames em provocarem a listeriose é atribuído aos obstáculos criados durante processo de fabricação e presentes no produto final. O pH e atividade água baixos, alta concentração de sal e a presença de bactérias ácido-lácticas e seus metabólitos secundários compõe barreiras que impedem o desenvolvimento de Listeria monocytogenes. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o comportamento das curvas de sobrevivência deste patógeno durante o processo de fabricação de salames tipo Italiano pouco ácidos (pH final de 5,2) em três formulações: inoculada com Lactobacillus plantarum, com adição de 2% lactato de sódio e uma formulação sem agentes inibidores intencionais. Cada formulação foi contaminada artificialmente com L. monocytogenes e paralelamente acompanhada por uma testemunha de igual composição. O tamanho das populações de L.monocytogenes foi avaliado semanalmente através de contagem pela técnica de tubos múltiplos (NMP), durante o período de fabricação de quatro semanas. Os salames naturalmente contaminados apresentaram discreto aumento da população de L. monocytogenes no inicio do processo, seguidas por redução até o final da maturação e os salames artificialmente contaminados tiveram redução considerável da contagem de L.monocytogenes, principalmente na formulação com adição de L. plantarum, seguido pela formulação com lactato de sódio e por último a formulação padrão, entretanto não se verificou diferença significativa entre os tratamentos. The low risk of salamis in provoking listeriosis is attributed to the obstacles created during production process and presents in the final product. The pH and low water activity, high concentration of salt and the presence of lactic acid bacteria and their secondary metabolites compose barriers that prevent the development of Listeria monocytogenes. In this work the behavior of the survival curves of this pathogen was evaluated during the production process in salamis Italian type slightly acid (final pH of 5,2) in three formulations: inoculated Lactobacillus plantarum, with addition of 2% sodium lactate and a formulation without intentional inhibitors agents. Each formulation was contaminated artificially with L. monocytogenes and parallel accompanied by a witness sample of equal composition. The size of the populations of L.monocytogenes was weekly evaluated through counting by the technique of multiple tubes (NMP), during the period of production of four weeks. The naturally contaminated sausage had presented discreet increase of the population of L. monocytogenes in the beginning of the process, followed by reduction until the end of the maturation and the salamis artificially contaminated had considerable reduction of the counting of L.monocytogenes, mainly in the formulation with addition of L. plantarum, followed by the formulation with sodium lactate and last the standard formulation, however significant difference was not verified among the treatments
The body in question in research methodology: "Death of the Author" and "the Pearly Gates of Cyberspace"
No full textIn educational research, theses are still expected to support the myth that learning which will advance knowledge about education is almost exclusively the product of abstract and systematic logical processes, of a disembodied spirit. In my PhD thesis, I demonstrated that a significant role was played in the construction of my knowledge by my body[-mind], much of it initially outside my awareness. This paper will address the tensions between dualistic traditions of our culture (cf. Wertheim, 1999) and new ways of understanding how people come to know what they know (e.g., Damasio, 1994; Lear, 1998; Lemke, 1995; Maturana & Varela, 1992; Sacks, 1998), and apply them to issues of research methodology and thesis presentation
Alpha-tocopherol, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations in the serum and feed of spring-calving dairy heifers
No full textThe objectives of this study were to provide baseline data for alpha-tocopherol, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations in the serum and feed of New Zealand dairy cattle, and to assess the likelihood that abnormal peroxide metabolism has a role in the impaired lactational and reproductive performance noted in selenium-deficient cattle. Twenty-four Friesian heifers were randomly allocated one of four winter diets consisting of hay with or without selenium supplementation, or pasture and silage with or without selenium supplementation. A winter diet consisting exclusively of hay (alpha-tocopherol concentration 19 mg/kg of dry matter) resulted in a pre-calving serum alpha-tocopherol concentration of 1.2 mg/l compared to 4.5 mg/l for pastured heifers (p0.05). These results suggest that dairy cattle wintered on hay can become Vitamin E-depleted, whereas the feeding of pasture and silage should provide adequate Vitamin E. The pasture offered following calving during July and August provided a low dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid challenge, suggesting that abnormal peroxide metabolism is unlikely to be an important mechanism in the impaired performance of selenium-deficient adult cattle which calve at this the of year.PUBM: Print; JID: 0021406; ppublishSource type: Electronic(1
Consumer acceptability and shelf life of "flor de invierno" pears (Pyrus communis L.) under different storage conditions
No full textTwo groups of "Flor de Invierno" pears (Pyrus communis L.), one recently harvested and another stored in a refrigerated controlled atmosphere for 7 months, were studied after storage at 20C in a normal atmosphere. Survival analysis was used to estimate sensory shelf life, which was 29 and 15 days for a 50% rejection probability, or 13 and 7 days for a 25% rejection probability for recently harvested and stored pears, respectively. A consumer panel evaluated the overall acceptability of the pears on a 9-point hedonic scale. Recently harvested pears obtained higher acceptability scores throughout the 20C storage time. Instrumental firmness measurements were performed with a texture analyzer through a compression test. The results obtained showed that prolonged storage in a controlled atmosphere causes changes in the fruit that lead to lower firmness, lower acceptance scores and, consequently, a shorter sensory shelf life. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The use of survival analysis to study the shelf life of foods is quite a novel technique in which the key concept is to focus the shelf life estimation on consumer rejection. In this study, survival analysis was applied to pears, but can be applied to other fruits or foods. This approach is useful to know the adequate storage time of food without detrimental sensory quality changes that would conduct to the consumer rejection. Normally, loss in sensory quality appears before microbiological spoilage in many food, so this methodology could be used to predict sensory shelf life.The authors are indebted to CYTED (Proyecto XI.16. Subprograma XI: Tratamiento y Conservación de Alimentos), to the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología for financial support (Project AGL 2003-09208-C03-02) and to the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) for the grant awarded to author P. Varela. They also wish to thank Mary Georgina Hardinge for assistance with the English text
Cost-Effectiveness of Water Conservation Measures: A Multi-level Analysis with Policy Implications
No full textGroundwater in Spain, as in other arid or semiarid countries worldwide, has been intensely used for the expansion of irrigated agriculture. This booming development has induced a remarkable socioeconomic development in many rural areas but has produced far-reaching environmental problems. In the Spanish Western La Mancha Aquifer, the excessive, and sometimes illegal, water abstraction for irrigation agriculture has resulted in the Aquifer’s overexploitation and has been responsible of the degradation of the associated wetlands “Tablas de Daimiel”, an internationally reputed, Ramsarnominated aquatic ecosystem. To undertake this analysis, a mathematical programming model has been developed to simulate farmers’ behaviour and their responses to different water policy scenarios. Specifically, the policy simulations selected are: alternative water pricing schemes (uniform volumetric and block-rate water tariffs), water use quota systems and water rights market. Results show that controlling illegal water mining is a necessary condition but it is not sufficient to recover the aquifer. Consequently, other measures will be necessary for an effective water management in this area. Among these, the block-rate water pricing scheme seems the most cost-effective system to reach the goal of aquifer sustainability but will entail important income losses in several farms. Therefore, we cannot conclude that a unique water conservation policy instrument will be the best overall solution for all types of holdings that will respond to efficiency as well as to equity considerations. It seems reasonable to make a combination of the tools proposed, even including additional measures that promote an environmental protection and develop sustainable agricultural systems.Environmental degradation, water policies, cost-effectiveness analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
La vuelta a la radio en 80 años. Análisis de una muestra de documentos venezolanos sobre la radio para el período 1932-2012. Round to the radio in 80 years. Analysis of a sample of venezuelan documents about radio for the period 1932-2012.
No full textRESUMEN FIDEL PÉREZ VARELA La vuelta a la radio en 80 años. Análisis de una muestra de documentos venezolanos sobre la radio para el período 1932- 2012 Con el objetivo de conocer las características de una muestra documental venezolana sobre la radio, el autor realiza un arqueo de información, seleccionando un total ciento noventa y dos documentos de ciento cincuenta y tres autores. Ochenta y seis de tales documentos los clasificó como Investigación y Análisis teórico, y ciento seis como Otros documentos, en orden a criterios propios de determinación del valor científico de cada documento. En sus conclusiones indica que sus resultados evidencian poco interés en la radio como tema de estudio, y que ninguno de los autores de los trabajos que considera de nivel científico acredita una trayectoria de investigación sobre este medio, lo que interpreta como señal del lugar que ocupa este medio en el interés de los investigadores. Descriptores: Radio / Bibliografía radiofónica / Bibliometría / Venezuela ABSTRACT FIDEL PÉREZ VARELA Round to the radio in 80 years. Analysis of a sample of venezuelan documents about radio for the period 1932-2012 In order to know the characteristics of a sample documentary on Venezuelan radio, the author makes a tonnage of information, selecting a total documents hundred ninety-two hundred and fifty-three authors. Eighty-six of these documents were classified as research and theoretical analysis, and one hundred and six as other documents, in order to determine the criteria of scientific value of each document. The conclusions indicate that their results show little interest in radio as a subject of study, and that none of the authors of the papers that considered scientific level credits a research career hereby interpreted as a sign that the place of this means in the interest of researchers. Keys Words: Radio / Radiofonic bibliography / Bibliometrics / Venezuela RÉSUMÉ FIDEL PÉREZ VARELA Le retour à la radio dans les années 80. L\u27analyse d\u27un échantillon de documents vénézuéliens à la radio pour la période 1932- 2012 Pour savoir les caractéristiques d\u27un documentaire de l\u27échantillon sur radio vénézuélienne, l\u27auteur fait un tonnage d\u27information, en sélectionnant un total documente cent quatre-vingt-douze cent et cinquante-trois auteurs. Quatre-vingt-six de ces documents ont été classés comme recherche et analyse théorique, et cent et six comme autres documents pour déterminer les critères de valeur scientifique de chaque document. Les conclusions indiquent que leurs résultats montrent petit intérêt dans radio comme un sujet d\u27étude, et qu\u27aucun des auteurs des papiers qui ont considéré par ceci des crédits du niveau scientifiques une carrière de la recherche n\u27a interprété comme un signe que la place de ceci veut dire dans l\u27intérêt de chercheurs. Mots clés: Radio / Radiophoniques bibliographie / Bibliométrie / Venezuela RESUMO FIDEL PÉREZ VARELA O retorno para o rádio em 80 anos. Análise de uma amostra de documentos venezuelanos no rádio para o período 1932 – 2012 Para saber as características de um documentário de amostra em rádio venezuelano, o autor faz uma tonelagem de informação, enquanto selecionando um total documenta cem noventa-dois cem e cinqüenta-três autores. Oitenta-seis destes documentos foram classificados como pesquisa e análise teórica, e cem e seis como outros documentos para determinar os critérios de valor científico de cada documento. As conclusões indicam que os resultados deles/delas mostram pouco interesse em rádio como um assunto de estudo, e que nenhum dos autores dos documentos que consideraram créditos de nível científicos por este meio uma carreira de pesquisa interpretados como um sinal que o lugar disto significa no interesse de investigadores. Palavras-chave: Radio / Bibliografia rádio / Bibliometria / Venezuela ©De conformidad por su autor para su publicación. Esta cesión patrimonial comprenderá el derecho para el Anuario ININCO de comunicar públicamente la obra, divulgarla, publicarla, y reproducirla en soportes analógicos o digitales en la oportunidad que así lo estime conveniente, así como, la de salvaguardar los intereses y derechos morales que le corresponden como autor de la obra antes señalada. Prohibida su reproducción total o parcial sin la autorización de la autora. Ley de Derecho de Autor. Gaceta oficial N° 4638 Extraordinario. 1 Octubre de 1993. Las fotos utilizadas son estrictamente para uso académico y corresponden al archivo fotográfico del Observatorio ININCO-UCV. Recibido: 04/ 06/ 2013 Aceptado: 29/ 06/ 201
Design of a high-performance buffered crossbar switch fabric using network on chip
No full textHigh-performance routers constitute the basic building blocks of the Internet. The wide majority of today's high-performance routers are designed using a crossbar fabric switch as interconnect topology. The buffered crossbar (CICQ) switching architecture is known to be the best crossbar-based architecture for routers design. However, CICQs require expensive on-chip buffers whose cost grows quadratically with the router port count. Additionally, they use long wires to connect router inputs to outputs, resulting in non-negligible delays. In this thesis, we propose a novel design for the CICQ switch architecture. We design the whole buffered crossbar fabric as a Network on Chip (NoC). We propose two architectural variants. The first is named the Unidirectional NoC (UDN), where the crossbar core is built using a NoC with input and output ports placed on two opposite sides of the fabric chip. Because of the chip pins layout, we improved the UDN architecture using a Multidirectional NoC (MDN) architecture, by placing the inputs and output around the perimeter (four sides) of the NoC-based crossbar fabric. Both proposed architectures have been analyzed with appropriate routing algorithms for both unicast and multicast traffic conditions. Our results show that the proposed NoC based crossbar switching design outperforms the conventional CICQ architecture. Our designs offers several advantages when compared to traditional CICQ design: 1) Speedup, because short wires allow reliable high-speed signalling, and simple local arbitration per on-chip router. 2) Load balancing, because paths from different input-output port pairs share the same router buffers. 3) Path diversity allows traffic from an input port to follow different paths to its destination output port. 4) Simpler switch design by allowing simple input memory structure such as first-in first-out (FIFO) input queueing, as opposed to traditional design where virtual output queueing (VOQ) is required.Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
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