Adapting to Impacts of Climate Change on Water Supply in Mexico City

human development, climate change

White sands missile range non-track optics: streamlining the process of conducting business for improved customer support

Budget overruns and scheduling difficulties within the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) test community have become more prevalent of late. Two of the biggest customer complaints have been that WSMR is too expensive, and that the scheduling process is slow and inflexible; the WSMR Non-track Optics organization has been suggested as the main contributor to these problems. WSMR Non-track Optics manages multiple types of specialized static cameras, networking instrumentation, and vehicles to transport and control its equipment, but has shown itself unable to support numerous test activities scheduled during the same timeframe. The focus of this thesis is to define the process whereby requirements for Non-track Optics support are routed, identify process inefficiencies within the organization, and recommend solutions for the Non-track Optics organization to successfully adopt the pull method, where the ability to set-up instrumentation and support exactly what the customers want, when they need it, is achieved within budget. In identifying and addressing these inefficiencies, solutions can be applied resulting in WSMR becoming a more affordable and customer-oriented test range.http://archive.org/details/whitesandsmissil1094538887DoD Civilian, Department of the Army WSMRDoD Civilian, Department of the Army JIEDDOApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Función preventiva y sancionatoria de la responsabilidad civil

¿Qué debe hacer el Ordenamiento Jurídico para evitar que el daño se produzca, o para evitar el rédito económico obtenido por el dañador, como consecuencia del daño causado y a la vez disuadirlo para que en el futuro no mantenga dicha actitud dolosa o por lo menos negligente? El Derecho no solo debe posibilitar a la víctima a que obtenga un resarcimiento adecuado al daño injustamente sufrido, sino que debe proveer los mecanismos para contrarrestar, neutralizar los efectos dañosos y de tal manera, también disuadir ulteriores comportamientos similares.Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociale

Función preventiva y sancionatoria de la responsabilidad civil

¿Qué debe hacer el Ordenamiento Jurídico para evitar que el daño se produzca, o para evitar el rédito económico obtenido por el dañador, como consecuencia del daño causado y a la vez disuadirlo para que en el futuro no mantenga dicha actitud dolosa o por lo menos negligente? El Derecho no solo debe posibilitar a la víctima a que obtenga un resarcimiento adecuado al daño injustamente sufrido, sino que debe proveer los mecanismos para contrarrestar, neutralizar los efectos dañosos y de tal manera, también disuadir ulteriores comportamientos similares.Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociale

Función preventiva y sancionatoria de la responsabilidad civil

¿Qué debe hacer el Ordenamiento Jurídico para evitar que el daño se produzca, o para evitar el rédito económico obtenido por el dañador, como consecuencia del daño causado y a la vez disuadirlo para que en el futuro no mantenga dicha actitud dolosa o por lo menos negligente? El Derecho no solo debe posibilitar a la víctima a que obtenga un resarcimiento adecuado al daño injustamente sufrido, sino que debe proveer los mecanismos para contrarrestar, neutralizar los efectos dañosos y de tal manera, también disuadir ulteriores comportamientos similares.Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociale

Antibody-Capped Mesoporous Nanoscopic Materials:Design of a Probe for the Selective Chromo-FluorogenicDetection of Finasteride

[EN] The synthesis of capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) conjugated with an antibody (AB) as a gatekeeper has been carried out in order to obtain a delivery system able to release an entrapped cargo (dye) in the presence of a target molecule (antigen) to which the conjugated antibody binds selectively. In particular, MSN loaded with rhodamine B and functionalized on the external surface with a suitable derivative of N-(t-butyl)- 3-oxo-(5a,17b)-4-aza-androst-1-ene-17-carboxamide (finasteride) have been prepared (S1). The addition of polyclonal antibodies against finasteride induced capping of the pores due to the interaction with the anchored hapten-like finasteride derivative to give a MSN¿hapten¿AB nanoparticle S1-AB. It was found that the addition of capped material S1-AB to water solutions containing finasteride resulted in displacement of the antibody, pore uncapping and entrapped-dye release. The response of the gated material is highly selective, and only finasteride, among other steroids, was able to induce a significant uncapping process. Compared with finasteride, the finasteride metabolite was able to release 17% of the dye, whereas the exogen steroids testosterone, metenolone and 16-b-hydroxystanozolol only induced very little release of rhodamine B (lower than 10%) from aqueous suspensions containing sensing solid S1-AB. A detection limit as low as 20 ppb was found for the fluorimetric detection of finasteride. In order to evaluate a possible application of the material for label-free detection of finasteride, the capped material was isolated and stored to give final sensing solid S1-AB-i. It was found to display a similar behavior towards finasteride as to that shown by freshly prepared S1-AB; even after a period of two months, no significant loss of selectivity or sensitivity was noted. Moreover, to study the application for the detection of finasteride in biological samples, this ¿aged¿ material, S1-AB-i, was tested using commercially available blank urine as matrix. Samples containing 70 and 90% blank urine were spiked with a defined amount of finasteride, and the concentration was determined using capped S1-AB-i. Recovery ranges from 94% to 118% were reached.Financial support from the Spanish Government (project MAT2009-14564-C04-01) and the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) (projects PROMETEO/2009/016 and PROMETEO/2010/008) is gratefully acknowledged. E. C. thanks the Minesterio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN, Spain) for her fellowship.Climent Terol, E.; Martínez Mañez, R.; Maquieira Catala, Á.; Sancenón Galarza, F.; Marcos Martínez, MD.; Brun Sánchez, EM.; Soto Camino, J.... (2012). Antibody-Capped Mesoporous Nanoscopic Materials:Design of a Probe for the Selective Chromo-FluorogenicDetection of Finasteride. ChemistryOpen. 1:251-259. https://doi.org/10.1002/open.201100008S251259

Marine macrophytes and the Water Framework Directive: preliminary studies in southern Spain

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) includes angiosperms and macroalgae as biological quality elements (BQE) for coastal and transitional waters. In southern Spain (Andalusia), studies to implement the WFD using angiosperms (seagrasses) started in June 2009. Different approaches have been considered; the first was the variation of this BQE along an environmental gradient; the second consisted on an extensive sampling campaign in the coastal waters from the western province of Huelva to the eastern province of Almeria. The surveys showed marked differences among the sites and species, indicating a broad variation in the ecological quality values for the water bodies. Additionally, these results will be compared with a similar research conducted on Ria Formosa (Portugal) to provide preliminary classifications of the ecological status of coastal and transitional waters of the southern Iberian Peninsula. With respect to the BQE “macroalgae”, two indices; the CFR (quality of rocky shores) and RSL (reduced species list) have been estimated. The ecological differences between coastal zones in the North Atlantic ecoregion where these methods of assessment have been developed (Northern Spain and the United Kingdom, respectively) and the Atlantic coast of Cadiz, suggested the need for an adaptation of both indices in southern Spain. These extensive surveys have allowed the elaboration of a reduced species list for the rocky shores on the southwestern Spanish Atlantic coasts. The present study shows the preliminary efforts and results of the assessment of BQEs based on marine macrophytes in Southern Spain. Some concerns about the need of reassessment of the proposed tools from the North Atlantic ecoregion when applied to Andalusian water bodies are also discussed.La Directiva Marco de Agua (DMA) incluye como elementos de calidad biológica (BQE) de las aguas de transición y costeras a las angiospermas y macroalgas. En el sur de España (Andalucía), los trabajos para implementar la DMA utilizando angiospermas marinas comenzaron en Junio de 2009. Se han considerado distintas aproximaciones; la primera fue el estudio de los cambios de este BQE a lo largo de un gradiente medioambiental; la segunda consistió en una intensa campaña de muestreo en las aguas costeras desde la provincia más occidental (Huelva) hasta la más oriental (Almería). Las campañas mostraron diferencias notables entre los sitios y las especies, lo que implicó una amplia variación en los valores de calidad ecológica de las masas de agua. Adicionalmente, estos resultados se compararán con un trabajo similar desarrollado en Ria Formosa (Portugal) de forma que se pueda proporcionar una clasificación preliminar del estado ecológico de las aguas costeras y de transición del sur de la Península Ibérica. Con respecto al BQE “macroalgas” se han estimado dos índices: el CFR (calidad de los fondos rocosos) y el RSL (lista reducida de especies). Las diferencias ecológicas entre las zonas costeras de la ecoregión Atlántico Norte donde se han desarrollado estos métodos de evaluación (norte de España y Reino Unido respectivamente) y la costa atlántica de Cádiz, sugirieron la necesidad de una adaptación de ambos índices para el sur de España. Los muestreos intensivos han permitido la elaboración de una lista reducida de especies para las costas rocosas sudoccidentales de España. El presente trabajo muestra los esfuerzos y resultados preliminares de la evaluación de BQEs basados en macrófitos marinos en el sur de España. Se discuten también algunos interrogantes sobre la necesidad de una reevaluación de las herramientas propuestas para la ecorregión Atlántico Norte cuando se aplican a las masas de agua de Andalucía.Universidad de Cádiz. Área de Ecología. Facultad de Ciencias del Mar

Environmental and health management in small and medium size enterprises

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-100).Workers and employees are increasingly exposed in the workplace to chemical compounds and substances that are potentially toxic; for most of these compounds, no information exist regarding effects on human health. As one of the main employment generation sources, Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) host a significant proportion of the environmental hazards currently present in the workplace. However, only a negligible amount of research or information has been completed and collected concerning SMEs environmental and health performance. SMEs possess environmental perceptions and an environmental and health behavior conditioned by the same qualitative attributes inherent to the small firm, from the kin relationships among the business members to the social role of the small company in a given community. With a prominent economic and social role in the society, SMEs are an important and still underestimated link in the environment-to-health chain. This thesis proposes an Environmental and Health Management model for SMEs. The model considers the convergence of medical, environmental, labor, and safety approaches and explores their interrelationship in three main components: the environmental conditions in the workplace, the (individuals) health conditions in the workplace, and the work-related conditions in the workplace. Nine fields of knowledge (Industrial Safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology, Industrial Hygiene, Toxicology, Environmental Health, Environmental Management, and Risk assessment) are considered as useful tools and approaches whose interaction may help SMEs to shape or modify their environmental perceptions and behavior, as well as may provide a general framework for the regulations applicable to SMEs.by Juan C. Arredondo.S.M

Mechanism of reaction of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from SARS-CoV-2

We combine molecular dynamics, statistical mechanics, and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations to describe mechanistically the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Our study analyzes the binding mode of both natural triphosphate substrates as well as remdesivir triphosphate (the active form of drug), which is bound preferentially over ATP by RdRp while being poorly recog- nized by human RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II). A comparison of incorporation rates between natural and antiviral nucleotides shows that remdesivir is incorporated more slowly into the nascent RNA compared with ATP, leading to an RNA duplex that is structurally very similar to an unmodified one, arguing against the hypothesis that remdesivir is a competitive inhibitor of ATP. We characterize the entire mechanism of reaction, finding that viral RdRp is highly processive and displays a higher catalytic rate of incorporation than human RNA Pol II. Overall, our study provides the first detailed explanation of the replication mechanism of RdRp

Rapid and parallel changes in activity and mRNA of intestinal peptidase to match altered dietary protein levels in juvenile house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Although dietary flexibility in digestive enzyme activity (i.e. reaction rate) is widespread in vertebrates, mechanisms are poorly understood. When laboratory rats are switched to a higher protein diet, the activities of apical intestinal peptidases increase within 15 h, in some cases by rapid increase in enzyme transcription followed by rapid translation and translocation to the intestine's apical, brushborder membrane (BBM). Focusing on aminopeptidase-N (APN), we studied intestinal digestive enzyme flexibility in birds, relying on activity and mRNA data from the same animals. Our model was nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus), already known to modulate intestinal peptidase activity when switching between lower and higher protein diets. Twenty-four hours after a switch from an adequate, lower protein diet to a higher protein diet, APN activity was increased in both whole intestinal tissue homogenates and in isolated BBM, but not at 12 h post-diet switch. Twenty-four hours after a reverse switch back to the lower protein diet, APN activity was decreased, but not at 12 h post-diet switch. Changes in APN activity in both diet switch experiments were associated with parallel changes in APN mRNA. Although transcriptional changes seem to be an important mechanism underlying dietary modulation of intestinal peptidase in both nestling house sparrows and laboratory rodents, the time course for modulation in nestlings seemed slower (taking approximately twice as long) compared with laboratory rodents. It may be ecologically advantageous if nestlings biochemically restructure their gut in response to a sustained increase in insects and protein intake rather than one or a few lucky insect meals.Fil: Brun, Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentina. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Magallanes Alba, Melisa Eliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Karasov, William. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Caviedes Vidal, Enrique Juan Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentina. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unido