Entropic Steering Criteria: Applications to Bipartite and Tripartite Systems

The effect of quantum steering describes a possible action at a distance via local measurements. Whereas many attempts on characterizing steerability have been pursued, answering the question as to whether a given state is steerable or not remains a difficult task. Here, we investigate the applicability of a recently proposed method for building steering criteria from generalized entropic uncertainty relations. This method works for any entropy which satisfy the properties of (i) (pseudo-) additivity for independent distributions; (ii) state independent entropic uncertainty relation (EUR); and (iii) joint convexity of a corresponding relative entropy. Our study extends the former analysis to Tsallis and R\'enyi entropies on bipartite and tripartite systems. As examples, we investigate the steerability of the three-qubit GHZ and W states.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures. Published version. Title change

Caranguejos (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) de Santa Maria, recolhidos na Expedição Santa Maria e Formigas 1990.

V Expedição Científica do Departamento de Biologia – Santa Maria e Formigas 1990.0s crustáceos dos Açores e particularmente os caranguejos despertaram o interesse de alguns cientistas desde as primeiras observações feitas no arquipélago por DROUET (1861), BARROIS (1988a,b) e por MILNE EDWARDS & BOUVIER (1894; 1899) aquando das campanhas científicas do Principe Alberto do Mónaco. Já neste século, NOBRE (1924; 1930) e mais recentemente FIGUEIRA (1960) e GAUDÊNCIO & GUERRA(1977) também se interessaram pelo estudo de colecções carcinológicas provenientes deste arquipélago. 0 mais recente estudo dentro desta área terá sido feito durante a Expedição "Açores 89" por PAULA et al.(1990). No entanto, nenhum dos trabalhos supracitados se debruça sobre material proveniente da ilha de Sta Maria. Deste modo, este trabalho reveste-se de um interesse particular, tendo como objectivo constituir um ponto de partida para uma inventariação da fauna carcinológica da ilha de Santa Maria. 0 material a que se reporta o presente relatório foi colectado directamente na zona intertidal ou em mergulho com escafandro autónomo. As colheitas foram feitas sobretudo em substrato rochoso e por terem um aspecto apenas qualitativo não refletem as abundâncias relativas das diferentes espécies. 0s exemplares recolhidos foram identificados e medidos nas dimensões do comprimento (1) e largura (w). Obtiveram-se um total de 7 espécies, algumas das quais em período de postura

Biomarkers: a strategic tool in the assessment of environmental quality of coastal waters

Ecosystems are under the pressure of complex mixtures of contaminants whose effects are not always simple to assess. Biomarkers, acting as early warning signals of the presence of potentially toxic xenobiotics, are useful tools for assessing either exposure to, or the effects of these compounds providing information about the toxicant bioavailability. In fact, it has been argued that a full understanding of ecotoxicological processes must consider an integrated multi-level approach, in which molecular impact is related with higher-order biological consequences at the individual, population and community levels. Monitoring programs should make use of this tool to link contaminants and ecological responses fulfilling strategies like those launched by OSPAR (Commissions of Oslo and Paris) Convention on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). An overview of the work done in the past few years using biomarkers as in situ tools for pollution assessment in Portuguese coastal waters is presented as a contribution to the set up of a biomonitoring program for the Portuguese coastal zone. Considering the data set available the biomonitoring proposal should include the analysis of biomarkers and effects at individual levels. The aim of the program will include a spatial and temporal characterization of the biomarkers acetyl-cholinesterase, metallothioneins, DNA damage, adenylate energy charge and scope-for-growth levels. The investigation of the spatial variation of biomarkers is crucial to define sites for long term monitoring, which will be integrated with a chemical monitoring program. This framework will be a major contribution to the implementation of a national database for the use of biomarkers along the Portuguese coast.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reproductive biology of Megabalanus azoricus (Pilsbry), the Azorean Barnacle

Copyright © 2007, Taylor & Francis.The reproductive biology of Megabalanus azoricus (Pilsbry), the commercially exploited barnacle in the Azores, was studied in an attempt to provide the scientific basis for the sustainable management of this heavily exploited regional marine resource. Both the Ospar Commission and WWF have expressed concern for this species, considering it at risk and in urgent need for scientific study. Barnacles were collected every month from shallow water (.3 m depth) around São Miguel Island from October 2004 to September 2005. Individuals were measured and gonads processed for histology and analysed with a stereological method. M. azoricus has a hermaphroditic reproductive system with separate gonads and it was possible to describe the various stages of gametic maturation in both. Data on fertility were also obtained by egg counts and calculation of the Gonadosomatic index (GSI). Throughout the year, some specimens of M. azoricus can be found that rare mature, but two reproductive peaks were observed, one in January and a smaller one in July. A strong positive correlation between GSI and environmental factors such as photoperiod and water temperature was observed.CIRN (Research Centre in Natural Resources), Universidade dos Açores

Benthic macroinvertebrate based indices for assessing the ecological status of freshwaters on oceanic islands

Following the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), macroinvertebrates are required biological elements for monitoring European aquatic ecosystems. Several efforts have been made towards establishing a biomonitoring programme for the Azores freshwater systems using benthic macroinvertebrates. However, little was previously known concerning Azorean freshwater macroinvertebrate fauna. Data from a major ongoing survey of macroinvertebrate freshwater fauna for two islands are presented and the use of macroinvertebrates as water quality indicators for the Azorean streams is evaluated. The upper, middle and lower reaches of streams longer than 10 km from São Miguel (10) and Santa Maria (1) were surveyed (a total of 33 samples). A total of 21 taxa were collected; Diptera, in particular chironomidae, were dominant; chironomids were collected from all sampling sites. The Azorean lotic fauna is characterized by low levels of abundance and the absence of macroinvertebrate groups commonly associated with continental systems. Traditional biotic indices, used to classify ecological quality, yielded poor to bad classifications despite little or no environmental impacts at the sampling sites. The paucity of macroinvertebrate fauna is probably due to the result of geological and physicochemical processes, the oceanic character of the islands, their volcanic origin, small size and geological youth and climate related factors such as seasonal peaks in rainfall. Considering these constraints, we demonstrate that watershed age plays a determinant role in shaping Azorean macroinvertebrate freshwater communities which can confound the water quality classification via the use of traditional biotic indices

Meiofauna communities of São Miguel (Azores): a case study.

36th European Marine Biology Symposium. Maó-Minorca, Espanha, 17-22 de Setembro de 2001

The genus Tesseropora (Cirripedia: Tetraclitidae) from São Miguel, Azores.

Fauna and Flora of the Atlantic Islands : Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium, Ponta Delgada, 21-25-September 1998.The barnaele Tesseropora was considered as primarily an insular Indo-Pacific genus until Tesseropora atlantica was described from Bermuda and the Azores (S. Jorge). T. atlantica has also been recorded from Saint Paul's rocks (equatorial Atlantic), confirming its link with isolated oceanic islands. Recently, another Tesseropora, Tesseropora arnoldi, was described as an Azorean endemic, but as there is some doubt as to the validity of this species, we continue to refer to Azores Tesseropora as T. atlantica. Little is known of the biology of this ancient genus recorded from the Italian Oligocene. In this paper, we report on the habitat, distribution and several population parameters (relative abundance, density and size structure) of Tesseropora atlantica from a boulder beach at Cerco da Caloura, S. Miguel. On this shore, Tesseropora has a patchy distribution and is found bellow the upper limit of Chthamalus stellatus. Clump densities of T. atlantica varied between 37-66, however, nearest neighbour values indicated a rather random distribution within each patch. In addition, the morphology of external plates, examined using scanning electron microscopy, showed some differences compared with published illustrations for the two Atlantic species

Avaliação da qualidade da água de ribeiras da ilha das Flores por aplicação da técnica CPET

XIII Expedição Científica do Departamento de Biologia - Flores e Corvo 2007.O presente trabalho surge no âmbito da XIII Expedição Científica do Departamento de Biologia “Flores e Corvo 2007”, em que foram amostrados 6 locais distribuídos por duas ribeiras da ilha das Flores, aplicando-se pela primeira vez no Arquipélago uma metodologia designada “Chironomid Pupal Exuviae Tecnhique” (CPET), com o objectivo de detectar impactos antropogénicos em sistemas lóticos insulares

The Family Dugesiidae : new records for the Azorean Archipelago

The freshwater Turbellaria worms are widely distributed and live mainly in lakes, lagoons, ponds and streams. The genus Dugesia of the Family Dugesiidae, differs from another Turbellaria families in some characteristics, namely the possession of multicellular and pigmented retina eyes. These species only inhabit non polluted freshwaters systems, and therefore can be very useful as water quality indicators. In the Azores and Madeira archipelagos, the presence of Dugesia gonocephala in Macaronesia have been previously reported (e.g. Marcus, 1959; Hughes et al., 1998) as the only member of the Family Dugesiidae family present in these islands. New records of Dugesia for the Azores: Dugesia lugubris (Schmidt 1861) and Dugesia tigrina (Girard 1950) are reported here. The occurrence of Dugesia gonocephala and Dugesia polichroa in Azorean freshwaters is confirmed.Los Turbelarios dulceacuícolas están ampliamente distribuidos a escala global y viven principalmente en lagos, lagunas, estanques y arroyos. El género Dugesia de la Familia Dugesiidae difiere en algunas características de otras familias de Turbelarios, concretamente por la posesión de ojos con retina multicelular y pigmentada. Estas especies sólo viven en aguas dulces no contaminadas y por tanto pueden ser muy útiles como indicadores de la calidad del agua. En los Archipiélagos de Azores y Madeira, la presencia de Dugesia gonocephala en Macaronesia ha sido previamente citada (Marcus, 1959; Hughes et al, 1998) como el único miembro de la Familia Dugesiidae presente en estas islas. Aquí se presentan nuevas citas de Dugesia para Azores: Dugesia lugubris (Schmidt 1861) y Dugesia tigrina (Girard 1950). Se confirma la presencia de Dugesia gonocephala y Dugesia polychroa en aguas dulces de Azor