Should the Concept of European Citizenship be Expanded to Include Stateless Children?

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

Soy protein enzymatic hydrolysis and polysaccharides interactions: differential performance on kinetic adsorption at air-water interface

The objective of the work was to study the impact of soy protein hydrolysis on kinetic adsorption to the air-water interface and the effect of polysaccharides addition. Was used soy protein (SP) and theirs hydrolysates of 2% (H1) and 5.4% (H2) degree of hydrolysis. The polysaccharides (PS) used were a surface active one called E4M and a non-surface active one, lamda carrageenan (C). The dynamic surface pressure of interfacial films was evaluated with a drop tensiometer. In this contribution, we have determined the kinetic parameters of adsorption to the air-water interface which determined the penetration (Kp) and rearrangement (Kr) rates of SP, H1, H2 and PS, as well as their mixed systems. It was observed an increase of Kp and Kr when the protein were hydrolyzed (from SP to H1), however, when degree of hydrolysis progresses to H2 the parameters decreased again. In other hand, considerable differences were not found between these two PS studied concerning the Kp to air-water interface at these conditions. In spite of the different surface active nature of the PS, the proteins seem to control the behavior of the protein-PS interactions. However, when Kr of mixed systems was analyzed, the degree of hydrolysis and PS nature started to have a huge importance. Hence, it could be observed synergic or antagonic effects on Kr of biopolymers at liquid interface depending to the degree of hydrolysis of protein analyzed and the type of PS selected.CYTED through project 105PI0274CYCYT through grant AGL2007-60045Junta de Andalucía through grant PO6-AGR-01535Universidad de Buenos Aires, Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2008-1901) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentin

An econometric approach to macroeconomic risk. A cross country study

A contribution to the study of volatility and country risk is made in order to achieve a successful crosscountry comparison. We present a methodology for the evaluation of country risk that include endogenous detection of multiple structural breaks (also identifying its different kinds), determination of persistence of shocks through their structural-break free fractional integration order and determination of the adjusted volatility which best characterizes the economy. This methodology is applied to developed and emerging countries' GDPs (taking 9 countries from each group). Although the former have fewer structural breaks than the latter, these breaks are extremely relevant in 14 of the 18 countries. This affects the calculation of the series persistence and volatility. Comparing a traditional risk indicator to our suggested one we find that the cluster of reference of 60% of the countries changes. Most countries present fractional integration (long memory) being the distribution between both groups heterogeneous. Country volatility varies strongly if we isolate structural breaks that present a probabilistic distribution different from intrinsic GDP volatility. Clusters arrangement is different with some risk country evaluation methodologies.Risk, Volatility, Persistence, Structural breaks, Forescastability, Macroeconomic variables, Cross country analysis

Enhancing undergraduate students’ academic writing skills through self-assessment

Developing the knowledge and the skill to master academic writing in higher education constitutes a challenge for most undergraduate students. However, learning about this genre in time of internationalization opens students´ doors to the wide world of academia. Thus, some undergraduate students were invited to become members of a Writing Feedback Center in which they worked with a tutor and a self-assessment sheet on different writing assignments following a process approach to writing. In this work we analyzed students’ and tutors’ perceptions on self-assessment in relation to the development of their academic skill.Developing the knowledge and the skill to master academic writing in higher education constitutes a challenge for most undergraduate students. However, learning about this style of writing opens students’ doors to the wide world of academia. Thus, some undergraduate students were invited to become members of a Writing Feedback Center in which they worked with a tutor and a self-assessment sheet on different writing assignments following an eclectic approach to writing. In this work we analyzed students’ and tutors’ perceptions on self-assessment in relation to the development of their academic skill

Interannual variability of zooplankton biomass and structure in Ría de Vigo ( Galiza, NW Spain) and adjacent shelfwaters between 1994 and 2000.

Changes in zooplankton biomass and structure in relation to hidroclimatological indexes in Ría de Vigo and adjacent shelf waters are presented for the period 1994-2000. Zooplankton biomass showed an inverse relation with NAO, the Gulf Current and upwelling indexes. The interannual variations in zooplankton composition showed a gook correlation to changes in the hidroclimatological indexes. The presence of warm water species of Copepoda (i.e., Temora stylifera) and Cladocera (i.e., Evadne spinifera, Penilia avirostris) between 1996 and 1998 is reported. In the same years a high abundance of oceanic copepods, such as: Paraeuchaeta hebes, Centropages chierchiae, Oithona plumifera and copepodits of Calanus helgolandicus have been observed inside Ría de Vig

Diferències dialectals del català a partir de les oracions interogatives absolutes amb 'que'

Aquest estudi centra l'atenció en l'anàlisi dels paràmetres prosòdics (entonació, durada i intensitat) que caracteritzen les oracions interrogatives absolutes encapçalades per la conjunció «que». El corpus emprat ha estat el constituït per oracions completes de tres accents tonals obtingut en quatre punts d'enquesta (Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida i Tortosa) a partir de mostres recollides a parlants femenines representatives del lloc en qüestió. Els resultats mostren clarament com l'anàlisi de l'F0 caracteritza la parla de cadascun dels quatre indrets estudiats sense confusió

Should the Concept of European Citizenship be Expanded to Include Stateless Children?

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

Detection of Plasmopara halstedii in sunflower seeds: A case study using molecular testing

Plasmopara halstedii (Farl.) Berl. & De Toni causing downy mildew of sunflower is responsible for considerable economic losses worldwide. Because P. halstedii can be seed-transmitted, monitoring of seeds for pathogen contamination is important for the sunflower seed trade. The relevance of asymptomatic or latent infections as factors of disease spread have not been studied by molecular techniques. A molecular marker based on a putative effector gene of P. halstedii was used to examine the pathogen´s presence in asymptomatic sunflowers growing near patches of mildewed plants in naturally infected fields. The method based on conventional PCR was highly sensitive for detection of P. halstedii in DNA from whole seeds. By the application of this protocol, we found that all seed samples obtained from symptomatic plants amplified the expected fragment, whereas the diagnostic marker identified the presence of pathogen in one out of 21 asymptomatic plants. Possible uses of this marker to detect downy mildew in seed from asymptomatic plants or for race identification are discussed.Fil: Martínez, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Quiroz, Facundo José. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Agencia de Extensión Rural Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Carrera, Alicia Delia. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentin

Review about bioproduction of Volatile Fatty Acids from wastes and wastewaters : Influence of operating conditions and organic composition of the substrate

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICVolatile fatty acids (VFAs) are a group of carboxylic acids considered as building block chemicals. Nowadays, commercial production of VFAs is performed using fossil fuel sources. As an alternative, acidogenic fermentation of wastes by mixed microbial cultures (MMC) is starting to be considered as a potential bioproduction process that would replace conventional production processes and contribute to the circular economy. Nevertheless, more research is needed to control the VFA production yields and to precisely drive the fermentation process to the production of a certain VFA or a mixture of VFAs, either by modifying the operational parameters or by appropriately tunning the substrate composition. Following this gap, this review starts screening the metabolic routes that yield VFAs by anaerobic fermentation. Subsequently, the effect of different operational parameters on VFA production yield and VFA composition distribution is extensively discussed depending on the organic composition of the waste in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. To the best of our knowledge, previous review articles analyzed the impact of these parameters for different types of wastes, but without specifically considering their organic composition in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Afterwards, energy-based metabolic models are presented as the one of the best modelling approaches to predict VFA composition. Then, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production by MMC is described since it is one of the most promising applications of waste derived VFAs. Finally, we highlight the research gaps that should be further investigated to develop a large scale VFA bioprocess based on MMC platform from waste streams

Mesozooplankton from Ría de Vigo (NW Spain) and its adjacent shelf between 1995 and 2003

The mesozooplankton (200 μm to 2 mm) community from monthly samples collected at two stations in Ría de Vigo (39 m) and its adjacent shelf (97 m) between 1995-2003 is described. The mesozooplankton was dominated by copepods. Inside the Ría, meroplankton (larvae of gasteropods, lamelibranchiae, echinodermate and cirripids nauplii) and other holoplanktonic organisms, such as apendicularia, cladocera, siphonophora and medusae, were also well represented. The copepod group inside the Ría was dominated by Acartia clausi, juveniles of Calanus helgolandicus, Paracalanus parvus, Pseudocalanus elongatus, Temora longicornis, Oithona plumifera, Oncaea media, Euterpina acutifrons and copepodites of Centropages spp. In the offshore station, dominant copepods species were the same than inshore together with other oceanic species, such as Paraeuchaeta hebes, Calanoides carinatus and Aetideus armatus. Biomass values within Ría de Vigo ranged between 2 and 151 mg dry weight /m3 and between 2 and 314 mg dry weight /m3 in the offshore station. Abundance ranged between 149 ind/m in January 1995 and 41814 ind/m3 in August of 2003 in the inner station, and between 22 ind/m3 in January 1996 and 93410 ind/m3 in May 1999 in the outer station. The most outstanding events were the high levels of the Mediterranean copepod Temora stylifera, usually rare in Galician waters recorded in the area in 1997 and 1998, and the increased levels of cirripid larvae observed inside the Ría