Sustainable Planning of Land Use Changes in farming areas under ecological protection

Land use has been changing in the last decades because of agricultural intensification and land abandonment which implies deterioration in the optimum habitat structure and quality. Habitat degradation and loss, resulting from changes in land use remain significant drivers of biodiversity loss. These trends are widely recognised and have forced national and international agencies to identify protected sites for natural areas with high biodiversity value. Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are natural zones particularly relevant for nature conservation. Regional planning is bound to play an increasing role in nature conservation policies because much biodiversity is located in farming areas outside natural parks. Agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin has always been highly dependent on rainfed crops, cereal, vine and olive. Vine growing plays an important role not only from the economic point of view, but also environmentally as a permanent plant cover in terms of preventing erosion, managing land and water resources in a sustainable way, defending against desertification an settling population in rural areas. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to implement a decision tool system to analyse the feasibility of new proposals to upgrade traditional vineyards in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The study focuses on the sustainability of current farming practices in Special Protection Areas for Steppe Land Birds. This paper presents a model to quantify the resulting habitat fragmentation basing on infrastructure facilities, leading to mapping areas where to apply restriction measures to prevent physical destruction of the habita

Elaboración de un análogo a chanquete

Referencia OEPM: P200202221.-- Fecha de solicitud: 01/10/2002.-- Titular: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Se trata de elaborar un producto semejante al chanquete, en sus propiedades sensoriales de textura, forma, color y sabor. Su elaboración se realizará a partir de diversas fuentes de origen pesquero, es decir músculo de pescado, u otras especies acuículas, sometido o no a procesos de picado y/o lavado. La fabricación puede realizarse por varias vías que comprenden picado y/o homogeneización y reestructuración mediante extrusión o moldeo. A esta masa se le adicionarán diversos componentes dependiendo de su función: estabilizante, ligante, texturizante, etc. y son sales, hidrocoloides, proteínas, aminoácidos y azucares. El que intervengan todos o solo algunos de estos ingredientes varía en función de las condiciones y características del producto de partida, así como del tratamiento físico al que se vea sometido. Además el producto se contemplará preparado de varias maneras: fresco, congelado, pasteurizado esterilizado, pudiendo estar además envuelto en una cobertura y prefrito.Peer reviewe

Elastic, dielectric and electromechanical properties of (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-BaTiO3 piezoceramics at the morphotropic phase boundary region

A systematic study of the functional properties of the (1-x)(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3–xBaTiO3 (BNT-xBT) piezoceramic system for 0.05 = x = 0.07 is performed. The samples are obtained through the conventional solid-state route. The expected microstructure for these compounds, with no significant dependence on the composition, is verified by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) is detected for x = 0.06–0.07 by means of the Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction data. The dielectric spectra show a frequency-independent, completely diffuse phase transition with a composition-dependent diffusivity coefficient. The depolarization temperature is effectively evaluated from pyroelectric measurements, the value being strongly dependent on the composition. A significant contribution of the extrinsic effect to elastic, dielectric and electromechanical properties is revealed for MPB BNT-xBT. The Bi3+ substitution by Ba2+ leads to the formation of A-site vacancies, which give rise to the enhancement of domain wall motion, as occurs in other perovskite-type piezoelectrics. Good functional properties are achieved for x = 0.07 (d33 = 180 pC/N), which are similar or even better than those obtained by complex synthesis routes. This system exhibits a remarkable stability in the permittivity that has hitherto not been reported. This fact may open the way for BNT-BT compositions to be used in specific applications in which lead-free piezoceramics have previously been employed with little success, e.g. in high power devices.Postprint (author's final draft

Gauge invariant investigation of the nature of Confinement

We observe a strong correlation between the decrease in the number of action density peaks in SU(2) Yang-Mills configurations with cooling and that of the string tension. The nature and distribution of these peaks is investigated. The relationship with monopole currents after the abelian projection is also considered.Comment: uuencoded and Z-compressed file of the Postcript version of our contribution to LATTICE 95. 4 pages of text and 4 figure

Mejoras introducidas en la patente de invención 8901508 por: "Procedimiento de fabricación de un producto análogo a la angula y producto así obtenido"

Adición a la patente de invención "Procedimiento de fabricación de un producto análogo a la angula y producto así obtenido", http://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/6552.Referencia OEPM: P9201027.-- Fecha de solicitud: 20/05/1992.-- Titular: Angulas Aguinaga, S.A.Peer reviewe

Gauge invariant structures and Confinement

By looking at cooled configurations on the lattice, we study the presence of peaks in the action density, or its electric and magnetic components, in the SU(2) gauge vacuum. The peaks are seen to be of instanton-like nature and their number variation takes care of the drop in the string tension observed when cooling. Possible explanations of this finding are analysed.Comment: uuencoded and compressed file of the Postcript file newpaper.ps, fig1.ps,fig2.eps,fig3.ps and fig4.ps. 13 pages of text and 4 figures Style modifications and misprints correcte

Do classical configurations produce Confinement?

We show that certain classical SU(2) pure gauge configurations give rise to a non-zero string tension. We then investigate cooled configurations generated by Monte Carlo simulations on the lattice and find similar properties. We infer evidence in favour of a classical model of Confinement.Comment: Uuencoded, Z-compressed and tarred file of the TeX file submit.tex and PostScript files Stnt.eps and Stst.eps. 11 pages of text and two figure

PV Hosting Capacity Analysis and Enhancement Using High Resolution Stochastic Modeling

Reduction of CO2 emissions is a main target in the future smart grid. This goal is boosting the installation of renewable energy resources (RES), as well as a major consumer engagement that seeks for a more efficient utilization of these resources toward the figure of ‘prosumers’. Nevertheless, these resources present an intermittent nature, which requires the presence of an energy storage system and an energy management system (EMS) to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, network-related issues might arise due to the increasing power of renewable resources installed in the grid, the storage systems also being capable of contributing to the network stability. However, to assess these future scenarios and test the control strategies, a simulation system is needed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the interaction between residential consumers with high penetration of PV generation and distributed storage and the grid by means of a high temporal resolution simulation scenario based on a stochastic residential load model and PV production records. Results of the model are presented for different PV power rates and storage capacities, as well as a two-level charging strategy as a mechanism for increasing the hosting capacity (HC) of the network

Comparison of perceived barriers to physical activity between Ecuadorian university students in physical activity and sports pedagogy and other social science majors

[Abstract]: Research suggests a relationship between university majors and the perception of contextual barriers to physical activity (PA). This study aims to identify and compare, differentiating by the sexes, the perceived barriers to PA among students of Physical Activity and Sport Pedagogy (PASP) and students from other social science majors at the Technical University of Machala. Methods. This research is descriptive and cross-sectional with a quantitative approach. A convenience sample of 526 students (168 men and 358 women) was obtained using a non-probabilistic intentional sampling technique by accessibility. Of these, 100 were PASP students (68 males and 32 females) and 426 were studying other majors (100 males and 326 females). The instrument used was the Barriers to Being Active Quiz (BBAQ) scale adapted to Spanish. The 21 items and the seven instrument categories were analyzed according to their nature and scale. Results. Female PASP students did not perceive barriers in any of the seven BBAQ categories, while women from other majors perceived barriers in four categories: lack of energy, lack of time, lack of will, and lack of resources. Significant differences were found in only one of the 21 scale items and in the associations of barriers with studies in the categories of lack of time (p<0.023) and lack of energy (p<0.042), with lower perception of barriers in PASP students. In male students, the main barriers for both groups were lack of time and lack of energy. Lack of resources was a barrier for men in other majors, while lack of willingness was a barrier for PASP students. Significant differences were found in four of the 21 scale items and in the associations in two categories: social influence (p<0.036) and fear of injury (p<0.016), with a higher perception of barriers in men from other majors. Conclusions. The type of university major affects the perception of barriers to PA among university students. This should be addressed with specific university policies to reconcile academic life with regular physical exercise programs