Estrategia medioambiental de la empresa exportadora gallega: ventajas e inconvenientes percibidos

La importancia que gran parte de la población mundial concede a la conservación del medio ambiente supone un nuevo reto para la empresa. Por otra parte, en un mundo globalizado como el actual resulta evidente la importancia que poseen las empresas exportadoras como motor de crecimiento de las economías de los diferentes países del mundo. Con este punto de partida, el objetivo que se persigue en el presente trabajo consiste en evaluar las percepciones de las empresas exportadoras de Galicia en torno a las ventajas e inconvenientes derivados de la implantación de una estrategia medioambiental.Nowadays, most of the population gives a lot of importance to environment conservation, which is a new challenge for the firms. On the other hand, in a world with increasing globalization, the export firms are important to the economic growth of the countries. With this starting point, the objective of this work is to evaluate the perceptions of the Galician export firm about the advantages and disadvantages of the implantation of an environmental strategy

Boosting precision crop protection towards agriculture 5.0 via machine learning and emerging technologies: A contextual review

Crop protection is a key activity for the sustainability and feasibility of agriculture in a current context of climate change, which is causing the destabilization of agricultural practices and an increase in the incidence of current or invasive pests, and a growing world population that requires guaranteeing the food supply chain and ensuring food security. In view of these events, this article provides a contextual review in six sections on the role of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and other emerging technologies to solve current and future challenges of crop protection. Over time, crop protection has progressed from a primitive agriculture 1.0 (Ag1.0) through various technological developments to reach a level of maturity closelyin line with Ag5.0 (section 1), which is characterized by successfully leveraging ML capacity and modern agricultural devices and machines that perceive, analyze and actuate following the main stages of precision crop protection (section 2). Section 3 presents a taxonomy of ML algorithms that support the development and implementation of precision crop protection, while section 4 analyses the scientific impact of ML on the basis of an extensive bibliometric study of >120 algorithms, outlining the most widely used ML and deep learning (DL) techniques currently applied in relevant case studies on the detection and control of crop diseases, weeds and plagues. Section 5 describes 39 emerging technologies in the fields of smart sensors and other advanced hardware devices, telecommunications, proximal and remote sensing, and AI-based robotics that will foreseeably lead the next generation of perception-based, decision-making and actuation systems for digitized, smart and real-time crop protection in a realistic Ag5.0. Finally, section 6 highlights the main conclusions and final remarks

New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) myiasis in feral swine of Uruguay: one Health and transboundary disease implications

Background: Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are highly invasive and threaten animal and human health in the Americas. The screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is listed by the World Organization for Animal Health as a notifiable infestation because myiasis cases affect livestock, wildlife, and humans in endemic areas, and outbreaks can have major socioeconomic consequences in regions where the screwworm has been eradicated. However, a knowledge gap exists on screwworm infestation of feral swine in South America, where the screwworm is endemic. Here, we report screwworm infestation of feral swine harvested in Artigas Department (Uruguay), where the Republic of Uruguay shares borders with Brazil and Argentina. Methods: Myiasis caused by the larvae of screwworm were identified in feral swine with the support and collaboration of members of a local feral swine hunting club over a 3-year period in the Department of Artigas. Harvested feral swine were examined for the presence of lesions where maggots causing the myiasis could be sampled and processed for taxonomic identification. The sites of myiasis on the body of infested feral swine and geospatial data for each case were recorded. The sex and relative size of each feral swine were also recorded. Temperature and precipitation profiles for the region were obtained from public sources. Results: Myiases caused by screwworms were recorded in 27 of 618 the feral swine harvested. Cases detected in males weighing > 40 kg were associated with wounds that, due to their location, were likely caused by aggressive dominance behavior between adult males. The overall prevalence of screwworm infestation in the harvested feral swine was associated with ambient temperature, but not precipitation. Case numbers peaked in the warmer spring and summer months. Conclusions: This is the first report on myiasis in feral swine caused by screwworm in South America. In contrast to myiasis in cattle, which can reach deep into host tissues, screwworms in feral swine tended to cause superficial infestation. The presence of feral swine in screwworm endemic areas represents a challenge to screwworm management in those areas. Screwworm populations maintained by feral swine may contribute to human cases in rural areas of Uruguay, which highlights the importance of the One Health approach to the study of this invasive host species–ectoparasite interaction

Intercambio estuario-ría de elementos traza en el sistema costero de la ría de Vigo (NO Península Ibérica)

[EN] Little research has been done on the land-sea exchange of trace elements, which is particularly applicable to ria coasts. In particular, trace metal enrichment in the inner part of the Ria of Vigo (the San Simon Inlet) has been observed from sediment studies but there is no information about Cd, Pb and Zn fluxes through the Rande Strait, which is the natural boundary of the estuary-ria water exchange. In order to assess metal exchanges in a ria-type system, six sampling cruises on board the R/V Mytilus (IIM-CSIC) were carried out. Water column profiles of salinity, temperature and tidal currents were obtained every 30 min. The water column for dissolved and particulate metals was sampled every two hours over a complete tidal cycle. Dissolved metal concentrations were 0.01–0.18 nM for Cd, 0.5-1.9 nM for Pb and 4-44 nM for Zn. Compared with Zn (16±12%) and especially with Cd (5.4±5.0%), particulate metal represented a significant fraction of the total concentration for Pb (41±21%). Net fluxes of dissolved Cd and Zn are higher than in the particulate phase, whereas for Pb an inverse situation was observed. The net metal exchange in the Vigo estuary-ria environment was not seasonally controlled. Dissolved Cd and Pb were driven by tidal ranges and particulate Pb by the Oitavén River flow. On the other hand, Zn did not show a defined trend. The budgets obtained for the Ria of Vigo, with the exception of Pb, were one or two orders of magnitude lower than those measured in other large European estuaries[ES] Intercambio estuario-ría de elementos traza en el sistema costero de la ría de Vigo (NO península Ibérica). – Existen pocos estudios sobre los elementos traza en el intercambio tierra-océano, lo que es especialmente aplicable a las zonas costeras de las rías. En particular, respecto a la ría de Vigo se ha observado un enriquecimiento de metales traza en sedimentos pero se carece de información acerca de los flujos de Cd, Pb y Zn a través del estrecho de Rande, que es la frontera natural para el intercambio estuario-ría. A fin de evaluar este tipo de intercambios se realizaron seis campañas oceanográficas a bordo del B/I Mytilus (IIM-CSIC) para cuantificar los flujos de Cd, Pb y Zn en diferentes estaciones del año. Se obtuvieron perfiles verticales de salinidad, temperatura y corrientes cada 30 min en el centro del estrecho de Rande durante un ciclo de marea. Además, se recogieron muestras de agua en cuatro niveles cada 2h. Las concentraciones de metales disueltos oscilaron entre 0.01 y 0.18 nM para Cd, 0.5 y 1.9 nM para Pb y 4 y 44 nM para Zn. Los metales particulados supusieron una fracción pequeña respecto del contenido total de metal (5.4±5.0% para Cd y 16±12% para zinc) salvo para el plomo (41±21%). Los flujos netos de Cd y Zn disuelto fueron superiores a los del particulado mientras que para Pb ocurrió lo contrario. El intercambio de metales en el entorno estuario-ría no parece depender de las estaciones del año sino de la altura de la marea en el caso de Cd y Pb disuelto y del caudal fluvial para Pb particulado mientras que Zn no presentó una tendencia definida. Excepto para Pb, los balances obtenidos son de uno a dos órdenes de magnitud inferiores a los de otros estuarios europeos.Peer reviewe

Adding plant oils to dairy goat diets: Effect on fatty acid content of milk fat

[ES]: El objetivo del presente trabajo fue investigar el efecto de la adición de aceites vegetales de diferente grado de insaturación a la dieta de cabras lecheras sobre el perfil de ácidos grasos de la grasa láctea. Doce cabras de raza Malagueña fueron asignadas al azar a uno de cuatro tratamientos: dieta basal sin aceite añadido y la misma dieta basal adicionada con 48 g/d de aceite de girasol alto oleico, aceite de girasol normal o aceite de lino. La dieta estuvo compuesta por heno de alfalfa (30%) y un concentrado granulado (70%) en el que se incluyó el aceite correspondiente. Todos los aceites redujeron el contenido de ácidos grasos saturados de cadena media de la grasa láctea (P 0,05). El aceite de girasol normal incrementó el contenido de los ácidos C18:1t10, vaccénico y ruménico y aumentó el valor de la ratio linoleico/α-linolénico (P 0,05). Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir que la adición de aceite de lino a la dieta de cabras en lactación, en comparación con la de los aceites de girasol alto oleico y normal, modifica el perfil de ácidos grasos de la grasa láctea en un sentido más favorable desde el punto de vista de la salud humana.[EN]: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of adding differently unsaturated vegetable oils to a dairy goat diet on fatty acid content of milk fat. Twelve Malagueña goats were randomly allocated to one of four treatments: no oil basal diet and the same basal diet supplemented with 48 g/d of high oleic sunflower oil, regular sunflower oil or linseed oil. The basal diet was made of alfalfa hay and a pelleted concentrate (30:70 w/w). The concentrate included the respective oils. Supplemented diets decreased medium chain saturated fatty acid content in milk fat (P 0.05). Regular sunflower oil increased C18:1t10, vaccenic and rumenic acid contents as well as linoleic to α-linolenic acid ratio (P 0.05). It was concluded that compared to high oleic o regular sunflower oils, adding linseed oil in dairy goat diets modifies milk fat fatty acid content more favourably from the point of view of human health.Peer Reviewe

Detecting microvariability in type 2 quasars using enhanced F-test

Microvariability (intranight variability) is a low amplitude flux change at short time-scales (i.e. hours). It has been detected in unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) and blazars. However in type 2 AGN, the detection is hampered by the low contrast between the presumably variable nucleus and the host galaxy. In this paper, we present a search for microvariability in a sample of four type 2 quasars as an astrostatistical problem. We are exploring the use of a newly introduced enhanced F-test, proposed by Diego. The presented results show that out of four observed target, we are able to apply this statistical method to three of them. Evidence of microvariations is clear in the case of quasar J0802+2552 in all used filters (g?, r? and i?) during both observing nights, and they are present in one of the nights of observations, J1258+5239 in one filter (i?), while for the J1316+4452, there is evidence for microvariability within our detection levels during one night and two filters (r? and i?). We demonstrate the feasibility of the enhanced F-test to detect microvariability in obscured type 2 quasars. At the end of this paper, we discuss possible causes of microvariability. One of the options is the misclassification of the targets. A likely scenario for explanation of the phenomenon involves optically thin gaps in a clumpy obscuring medium, in accordance with the present view of the circumnuclear medium. There is a possible interesting connection between the merging state of the targets and detection of microvariability

IAA : Información y actualidad astronómica (44)

Sumario : La importancia de los cometas.-- Gamow, Alpher y el ylem.-- DECONSTRUCCIÓN Y otros ENSAYOS. El universo molecular.-- EL “MOBY DICK” DE... Alberto Molino (IAG).-- CIENCIA EN HISTORIAS...Tras la estela de Plateau.-- ACTUALIDAD.-- SALA LIMPIA.-- CIENCIA: PILARES E INCERTIDUMBRES. Explosiones de rayos gamma.N

San Pedro Mártir observations of microvariability in obscured quasars

Fast brightness variations are a unique tool to probe the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). These variations are called microvariability or intra-night variability, and this phenomenon has been monitored in samples of blazars and unobscured AGNs. Detecting optical microvariations in targets hidden by the obscuring torus is a challenging task because the region responsible for the variations is hidden from our sight. However, there have been reports of fast variations in obscured Seyfert galaxies in X-rays, which rises the question whether microvariations can also be detected in obscured AGNs in the optical regime. Because the expected variations are very small and can easily be lost within the noise, the analysis requires a statistical approach. We report the use of a one-way analysis of variance, ANOVA, with which we searched for microvariability. ANOVA was successfully employed in previous studies of unobscured AGNs. As a result, we found microvariable events during three observing blocks: in two we observed the same object (Mrk 477), and in another, J0759+5050. The results on Mrk 477 confirm previous findings. However, since Mrk 477 is quite a peculiar target with hidden broad-line regions, we cannot rule out the possibility that we have serendipitously chosen a target prone to variations.This research has been supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) under the grant AYA2014-58861-C3-1. I.O. acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC) in the form of Advanced Grant, COSMICISM. J.A.D. is grateful for the support from the grant UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT IN110013 Program and the Canary islands CIE: Tricontinental Atlantic Campus. A.E. acknowledges support by the grant AYA2012-30789. J. I. González-Serrano is grateful for the support from AYA2011-29517-C03-02.Peer Reviewe

Microstructural stability of ODS Fe-14Cr (-2W-0.3Ti) steels after simultaneous triple irradiation

Simultaneous triple-ion beam irradiation experiments with Fe5+, He+ and H+ ions were performed to simulate fusion damage on two nanostructured ferritic alloys with nominal composition Fe-14Cr-0.3Y(2)O(3) and Fe-14Cr-2W-0.3Ti-0.3Y(2)O(3). Samples were irradiated at 600 degrees C to an estimated dose of similar to 30 dpa, 60 0 appm He, 150 0 appm H, and the effects on the microstructure of these alloys investigated by analytical transmission electron microscopy. The results reveal the development of nanovoids, or small bubbles, undetected in the unirradiated samples, and a virtual compositional stability of the dispersion. Nevertheless, upon irradiation the measured size distribution indicates a slight growth of those dispersoids having the smaller sizes.This investigation was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (project ENE2012-39787-C6-05), the Comunidad de Madrid through TECHNOFUSION-II (S2013/MAE-2745), the Royal Society, the European Commission through the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA), and the EU FP7 through the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative-I3 (Grant Agreement 312483 - ESTEEM2). The authors acknowledge the JANNUS-Saclay team for their scientific and technological advice, support from the EPSRC programme grant “Materials for Fusion and Fission Power” (EP/H018921/1) and EPSRC (grant EP/K040375/1) for the ‘South of England Analytical Electron Microscope’