Smart and networking underwater robots in cooperation meshes : the swarms ECSEL : H2020 project

The work presented on this paper is aimed to explain the role that unmanned underwater vehicles (AUVs/ROVs) plays in the ECSEL-H2020 SWARMS project. The main goal of the project is to reduce the operational cost and increase the safety of tasks assigned to divers in these operations. This will be achieved enabling the AUVs/ROVs to work in a cooperative mesh. The challenge is to design and develop an integrated platform (a set of Software/Hardware components), incorporated into the current generation of underwater vehicles in order to improve autonomy, cooperation, robustness, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of the offshore operations. The first demonstration of the project will be performed at PLOCAN (Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands) where these technologies will be validated on its first stage.Peer Reviewe

La estimulación neonatal por un ambiente nuevo mejora la producción de huevos en gallinas ponedoras

The development of behavioral and endocrine responses to acute stress is greatly influenced by the early postnatal rearing environment. These environmental effects persist throughout life, resulting in stable individual differences in fearfulness. Early stimulation, such as neonatal novelty exposure decreases behavioral reactivity. Previous reports also show that early–life stimulation, such as neonatal exposure to novelty, reduces behavioural reactivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether early stimulation increases egg production in adult laying eggs. One–day–old laying hen chicks were exposed to a T–maze (Method A) or a test based on the latency to peck (Method B), and then reared in an industrial poultry farm until adults. A group of non–stimulated hens was used as a control group. Weekly egg production, individual egg weight and weekly feed intake were measured in laying hens under farm conditions for 25 weeks. An increase in egg number was observed in stimulated laying hens by Method A (5.22 ± 0.06, p < 0.01) and by Method B (5.33 ± 0.08, p < 0.001) compared to the controls (4.78 ± 0.24). Likewise, the food conversion index was also greater for stimulated hens by Method A (0.356 ± 0.042; p < 0.05) and Method B (0.363 ± 0.053; p < 0.01), compared to the control group (0.330 ± 0.085). These results indicate that early stimulation could help to improve the adaptation of laying hens in industrial poultry farms. Key words: chick, early stimulation, egg production, laying hen, stress.El desarrollo de las respuestas comportamentales y endocrinas al estrés agudo está fuertemente influenciado por el entorno postnatal temprano. Estos efectos ambientales persisten a lo largo de la vida, generando diferencias individuales estables en la temerosidad. La estimulación temprana, como la exposición a un ambiente nuevo, disminuye la reactividad comportamental. También se demostró en investigaciones previas que una estimulación temprana en la vida, tal como una exposición neonatal al ambiente nuevo, redujo la reactividad comportamental. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar si una estimulación temprana aumenta la producción de huevos en gallinas adultas. Pollitos de gallinas ponedoras de un día de edad se expusieron a un laberinto en T (método A) o una prueba basada en la latencia para picotear un objeto (método B), posteriormente se trasladaron a una granja avícola hasta la edad adulta. Se designó a un grupo de gallinas como control, las cuales no se estimularon por ninguno de los métodos anteriormente nombrados. Durante 25 semanas se registró la postura semanal de huevos, el peso individual de los huevos y el consumo de alimento semanal en las gallinas ponedoras criadas bajo condiciones de granja. Se observó un aumento en el número de huevos en las gallinas estimuladas por el método A (5,22 ± 0,06, p < 0,01) y por el método B (5,33 ± 0,08, p < 0,001) comparadas a los controles no estimulados (4,78 ± 0,24). Del mismo modo, el índice de conversión alimenticia también fue mayor para las gallinas estimuladas por el método A (0,356 ± 0,042, p < 0,05) y el método B (0,363 ± 0,053, p < 0,01) respecto al grupo control (0,330 ± 0,085). Estos resultados indican que la estimulación temprana puede ayudar a mejorar la adaptación de gallinas ponedoras a las condiciones de cría intensiva en las granjas avícolas industriales. Palabras clave: pollito, estimulación temprana, producción de huevos, gallinas ponedoras, estrés

The UN in the lab

We consider two alternatives to inaction for governments combating terrorism, which we term Defense and Prevention. Defense consists of investing in resources that reduce the impact of an attack, and generates a negative externality to other governments, making their countries a more attractive objective for terrorists. In contrast, Prevention, which consists of investing in resources that reduce the ability of the terrorist organization to mount an attack, creates a positive externality by reducing the overall threat of terrorism for all. This interaction is captured using a simple 3×3 “Nested Prisoner’s Dilemma” game, with a single Nash equilibrium where both countries choose Defense. Due to the structure of this interaction, countries can benefit from coordination of policy choices, and international institutions (such as the UN) can be utilized to facilitate coordination by implementing agreements to share the burden of Prevention. We introduce an institution that implements a burden-sharing policy for Prevention, and investigate experimentally whether subjects coordinate on a cooperative strategy more frequently under different levels of cost sharing. In all treatments, burden sharing leaves the Prisoner’s Dilemma structure and Nash equilibrium of the game unchanged. We compare three levels of burden sharing to a baseline in a between-subjects design, and find that burden sharing generates a non-linear effect on the choice of the efficient Prevention strategy and overall performance. Only an institution supporting a high level of mandatory burden sharing generates a significant improvement in the use of the Prevention strategy

Simulação do impacto das atividades florestais na fragilidade potencial em plantios de pinus.

Este trabalho, realizado em uma área com povoamento de Pinus taeda, teve por objetivo simular e mapear a influência do valor de impacto das atividades florestais na fragilidade potencial. Variáveis do solo, de declividade do terreno, valor de impacto e de cobertura vegetal foram utilizadas para gerar os mapas. Os resultados expressos pelo modelo adotado mostraram que as áreas mais frágeis apresentam em sua maioria declividades superiores a 75 % e textura que variam de arenosa a média, e as áreas menos frágeis apresentam predominantemente relevo plano (até 3 %) e textura argilosa. Quando simulado o impacto das atividades florestais sobre esse ambiente, verificou-se que na maior parte da área (78 %) todas as atividades florestais podem ser realizadas sem influência na degradação do meio ambiente e para algumas áreas (11 %) o ambiente foi considerado menos frágil, em razão da presença de cobertura vegetal

Successful reconstruction of whole mitochondrial genomes from ancient Central America and Mexico

The northern and southern peripheries of ancient Mesoamerica are poorly understood. There has been speculation over whether borderland cultures such as Greater Nicoya and Casas Grandes represent Mesoamerican outposts in the Isthmo-Colombian area and the Greater Southwest, respectively. Poor ancient DNA preservation in these regions challenged previous attempts to resolve these questions using conventional genetic techniques. We apply advanced in-solution mitogenome capture and high-throughput sequencing to fourteen dental samples obtained from the Greater Nicoya sites of Jícaro and La Cascabel in northwest Costa Rica (n = 9; A.D. 800–1250) and the Casas Grandes sites of Paquimé and Convento in northwest Mexico (n = 5; A.D. 1200–1450). Full mitogenome reconstruction was successful for three individuals from Jícaro and five individuals from Paquimé and Convento. The three Jícaro individuals belong to haplogroup B2d, a haplogroup found today only among Central American Chibchan-speakers. The five Paquimé and Convento individuals belong to haplogroups C1c1a, C1c5, B2f and B2a which, are found in contemporary populations in North America and Mesoamerica. We report the first successfully reconstructed ancient mitogenomes from Central America, and the first genetic evidence of ancestry affinity of the ancient inhabitants of Greater Nicoya and Casas Grandes with contemporary Isthmo-Columbian and Greater Southwest populations, respectively

Proper Motions of Young Stellar Outflows in the Mid-infrared with Spitzer (IRAC). I. The NGC 1333 Region

We use two 4.5 μm Spitzer (IRAC) maps of the NGC 1333 region taken over a ~7 yr interval to determine proper motions of its associated outflows. This is a first successful attempt at obtaining proper motions of stellars' outflow from Spitzer observations. For the outflow formed by the Herbig-Haro objects HH7, 8, and 10, we find proper motions of ~9-13 km s–1, which are consistent with previously determined optical proper motions of these objects. We determine proper motions for a total of eight outflows, ranging from ~10 to 100 km s–1. The derived proper motions show that out of these eight outflows, three have tangential velocities ≤20 km s–1. This result shows that a large fraction of the observed outflows have low intrinsic velocities and that the low proper motions are not merely a projection effect

Proyecto de elaboración de un plan de negocios para la creación de una microempresa dedicada al alquiler y asesoria de audio para todo tipo de eventos

In the present project a market research and financial feasibility is realized for the implementation of a microcompany, dedicated to the rent and audio advising for all kinds of events. Before the ignorance of our clients in the configuration and / or managing of the equipment of audio, and understanding the great problematic that exists for not being able to avoid common faults as the hiss, popeo, snap, feedback, humm, echo, between other parameters, which have to choose to contract hereby empirical services that do not solve all audio problems, or of companies that charge high prices or compel to buying the equipments of audio that they sell. We offer the best solution, this way to form and / or to improve the audio quality that is being emitted by the equipments in any type of events that the client requests. The study includes a study of financial viability to detail the costs that there implies the creation and development of a microcompany of this type, the income that are foreseen to obtain and of this form, with financial criteria and taking as a base the market research, the convenience of the project