Nation, culture and self: readings of Andrew Boorde's "Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge"

This thesis addresses the relevance of Andrew Boorde's Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, complementing the scarce literature on the author with a more detailed survey of the literary strategies of his text. Nation and otherness, authority and self, are some of the themes developed using colonial and cultural materialist approaches. The narrative is paralleled to a map where colonial impulses are explained and boundaries drawn between cultures, disclosing the fragmentation of Europe and promoting the supremacy of England. The relationship of fashion with politics and religion as part of the text's political agenda is also addressed, as well as Boorde's own self-fashioning as national subject and authoritative self. Questions on the generic evolution of travel literature, the debates surrounding our systems of evaluation of the literary text and our historical perceptions, are raised throughout, concluding with a short discussion on the reception of the text as an entity independent from its author and a survey on the influence it had on later writers

Biologic and Ecologic Aspects of Sinelobus stanfordi (Richardson, 1901) (Crustacea, Tanaidacea) in the Martín García Island Natural Reserve, Río de la Plata, Argentina

We investigated the biology and ecology of the tanaidacean Sinelobus stanfordi from the littoral water of Martín García Island at five sites along the coast chosen for their substrate characteristics, and classified the individuals according to size (mm) and ectosomatic characterinalysisstics as: manca III (0.60-1.19), juvenile male and female I (0.90-1.49), juvenile female II and copulatory male I (1.2-1.79), preparatory female I (1.8-2.39), preparatory female II (2.40-2.99), copulatory female I (2.40-2.69), copulatory female II (2.99-4.19), ovigerous female (1.80-3.59), copulatory male II (1.5- 1.79), copulatory male III (2.10-2.69) and copulatory male IV (2.40-3.89). The smallest female with rudimentary ovisacs measured 1.84 mm. The tanaid density ranged from 0 to 10,548 ind.m-2 . The average female-to-male sex ratio was 3.04:1. An abundance analysis indicated no significant differences among the sampling sites (X2 =4.037, p>0.001), while the fecundity (number of eggs) did not vary significantly with female size (r 2 =0.2164, n = 19). The almost permanent presence of all developmental stages during every season of the year suggested a likely continuous year-long reproduction of S. stanfordi. Relationship between the water variables and S. stanfordi populations: The lower than optimal average electrical conductivity (160.24 μS.cm-1 ) for the species did not seem to limit the population-growth kinetics. The postmarsupial development throughout almost all the stages evidenced a significant positive correlation with pH. The soluble-reactive-phosphorus levels were within the low tolerance values as well as the NO-3 and the NH4 + and both close to optimal along with the near-optimal percent saturation of oxygen.Fil: César, I. I.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Becerra, Romina Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata "Prof. Dr. Rodolfo R. Brenner". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata "Prof. Dr. Rodolfo R. Brenner"; Argentin

Time-resolved gas-phase kinetic and quantum chemical studies of the reaction of silylene with oxygen

Time-resolved kinetic studies of the reaction of silylene, SiH2, generated by laser flash photolysis of phenylsilane, have been carried out to obtain rate constants for its bimolecular reaction with O-2. The reaction was studied in the gas phase over the pressure range 1-100 Torr in SF6 bath gas, at five temperatures in the range 297-600 K. The second order rate constants at 10 Torr were fitted to the Arrhenius equation: log(k/cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) = (-11.08 +/- 0.04) + (1.57 +/- 0.32 kJ mol(-1))/RT ln10 The decrease in rate constant values with increasing temperature, although systematic is very small. The rate constants showed slight increases in value with pressure at each temperature, but this was scarcely beyond experimental uncertainty. From estimates of Lennard-Jones collision rates, this reaction is occurring at ca. 1 in 20 collisions, almost independent of pressure and temperature. Ab initio calculations at the G3 level backed further by multi-configurational (MC) SCF calculations, augmented by second order perturbation theory (MRMP2), support a mechanism in which the initial adduct, H2SiOO, formed in the triplet state (T), undergoes intersystem crossing to the more stable singlet state (S) prior to further low energy isomerisation processes leading, via a sequence of steps, ultimately to dissociation products of which the lowest energy pair are H2O + SiO. The decomposition of the intermediate cyclo-siladioxirane, via O-O bond fission, plays an important role in the overall process. The bottleneck for the overall process appears to be the T -> S process in H2SiOO. This process has a small spin orbit coupling matrix element, consistent with an estimate of its rate constant of 1 x 10(9) s(-1) obtained with the aid of RRKM theory. This interpretation preserves the idea that, as in its reactions in general, SiH2 initially reacts at the encounter rate with O-2. The low values for the secondary reaction barriers on the potential energy surface account for the lack of an observed pressure dependence. Some comparisons are drawn with the reactions of CH2 + O-2 and SiCl2 + O-2

Relationship between Exotic Plant Species Richness, Native Vegetation and Climate in Forest Ecosystems of Chile

In this chapter, we evaluated how native species cover, native species richness, and foliage periodicity of forests are related to exotic species richness in different forest ecosystems distributed through the Mediterranean-type and temperate climate regions of Chile. We compiled published and unpublished data on Chilean vegetation (mainly phytosociological studies) located between 30º and 41º S in which plant species composition and abundance (percentage of cover) per plot was evaluated and published. When all forests were analysed together, we found that exotic species richness was not significantly related to native species richness; it was negatively related to native species cover in both Mediterranean and temperate climatic regions and was greater in deciduous than evergreen forests, although only in the temperate region. In an analysis considering separately every forest type, we observed that only in 50% of these communities, exotic species richness was negatively related to native species cover. Furthermore, in 25% of forest types, exotic species richness was negatively related to native species richness, and in only one forest type, this relationship was positive. Our results suggest that native species produce some resistance against invasion of exotic plants, but this effect may depend on climate and forest type

Elisa Bello (1960-2008). In memoriam

2 páginas.-- Necrológica.Peer reviewe

Mars and the ESA Science Programme - the case for Mars polar science

Current plans within the European Space Agency (ESA) for the future investigation of Mars (after the ExoMars programme) are centred around participation in the Mars Sample Return (MSR) programme led by NASA. This programme is housed within the Human and Robotic Exploration (HRE) Directorate of ESA. This White Paper, in response to the Voyage 2050 call, focuses on the important scientific objectives for the investigation of Mars outside the present HRE planning. The achievement of these objectives by Science Directorate missions is entirely consistent with ESA’s Science Programme. We illustrate this with a theme centred around the study of the Martian polar caps and the investigation of recent (Amazonian) climate change produced by known oscillations in Mars’ orbital parameters. Deciphering the record of climate contained within the polar caps would allow us to learn about the climatic evolution of another planet over the past few to hundreds of millions of years, and also addresses the more general goal of investigating volatile-related dynamic processes in the Solar System

Modeling the natural gas supply chain for sustainable growth policy

Natural gas has been used globally as a transitional fuel for supporting a green-energy-supply strategy, which has been questioned for the intermittence and lack of reliability of renewables. This paper proposes a System Dynamics model for assessing alternative security of supply policy along the natural gas value chain. The model incorporates demand, transport, production and reserves of natural gas variables according to a systemic perspective. It also includes a module for evaluating the effect of natural gas price on the demand and supply levels, respectively. Alternative supply policies are evaluated under different scenarios. The chosen case-study focuses on the Colombian natural gas industry with the purpose of assessing how the impact of public policies affect supply and demand. Particularly, policies consider the allocation of resources along the natural gas supply chain, seeking to promote the development of infrastructure oriented to mitigate the risk of provision shortages

The websites adoption in the Spanish agrifood firms

Currently, the use of websites in the firms of the Spanish agrifood sector has not become widespread despite the possible benefits to be derived from their adequate integration and management within the firms. Among these advantages, the increase in the quality of the services offered and the improvement in the relations with their stakeholders should be highlighted. In this context, the objective of the present work is to determine to what extent websites are used by firms in the agrifood sector of Spain, analysing the background which explains why they are adopted and the consequences of introducing them. To do so, a theoretical framework is posed which allows these factors to be identified, and an empirical study is carried out with Spanish agrifood firms. The results of the work indicate that the adoption of websites will be favoured when the directors of the firm are higher qualified, the firm is bigger in size, the firm’s function is distribution, and when the relative advantage and technology compatibility is perceived, among others. Technology adoption consequences analysis suggests that the benefits of adoption are related with improving the relationships with suppliers, customers, owning partners and, in general, the quality of the services offered by the firm

Sources and Sinks of Diversification and Conservation Priorities for the Mexican Tropical Dry Forest

Elucidating the geographical history of diversification is critical for inferring where future diversification may occur and thus could be a valuable aid in determining conservation priorities. However, it has been difficult to recognize areas with a higher likelihood of promoting diversification. We reconstructed centres of origin of lineages and identified areas in the Mexican tropical dry forest that have been important centres of diversification (sources) and areas where species are maintained but where diversification is less likely to occur (diversity sinks). We used a molecular phylogeny of the genus Bursera, a dominant member of the forest, along with information on current species distributions. Results indicate that vast areas of the forest have historically functioned as diversity sinks, generating few or no extant Bursera lineages. Only a few areas have functioned as major engines of diversification. Long-term preservation of biodiversity may be promoted by incorporation of such knowledge in decision-making