Breeding ecology of the southern shrike (Lanius meridionalis) in an agrosystem of south-eastern Spain: The surprisingly excellent breeding success in a declining population

The southern shrike (Lanius meridionalis) is declining at the Spanish and European level. One cause of this decline could be low reproductive success due to low availability of prey in agricultural environments. To investigate this possibility we analysed the breeding ecology of a population of southern shrike in an agrosystem in Lomas de Padul (SE Spain). Our results suggestthe population is declining in this area. However, contrary to expectations, the population showed the highest reproductive success (% nests in which at least one egg produces a fledgling) reported for this species to date (83.3%), with a productivity of 4.04 fledglings per nest. Reproductive success varied throughout the years, ranging from 75% in the worst year to 92.9% in the best year. Similarly, productivity ranged from 3.25 to 5.0 fledglings per nest depending on the year. Other aspects of reproductive biology, such as clutch size, brood size, and nestling diet, were similar to those reported in other studies. Based on these results, we hypothesise that the determinant of population decline acts on the juvenile fraction, drastically reducing the recruitment rate, or affecting the dispersion of adults and recruits. Nevertheless, the exact factor or factors are unknown. This study shows that a high reproductive success does not guarantee good health status of the population.Peer Reviewe

Shortcomings of Transforming a Local Circular Economy System through Industrial Symbiosis: A Case Study in Spanish SMEs.

Defining the circular economy (CE) as a material and energy model coincides with the definition given by multiple authors in which Industrial Symbiosis (IS) has been deemed as a foundational strategy to support the implementation of the CE. The consumption of secondary materials is essential to achieve a successful transformation from a linear economy to a CE focused on IS practices. In this scenario, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a major role as stakeholders in developing CE systems as it is not possible to create this model with each company working in isolation. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on the role played by relevant local stakeholders such as individual firms interacting in the development of a local CE system. This study aimed to study the challenges that SMEs face in developing a CE system. A case study is selected as a research strategy using a mixed-method approach: a sequential quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) data collection techniques were employed for this research. It was observed that an absence of inter-organisational collaboration and a misunderstanding of the roles played by SMEs may impede the implementation of a local CE system level

Implementation of multi-layer techniques using FEDERICA, PASITO and OneLab network infrastructures

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. V. López, J. L. Añamuro, V. Moreno, J. E. L. De Vergara, J. Aracil, C. García, J. P. Fernández-Palacios, and M. Izal, "Implementation of multi-layer techniques using FEDERICA, PASITO and OneLab network infrastructures", in 17th IEEE International Conference on Networks, ICON 2011, p. 89-94This paper describes an implementation of multilayer techniques using the network infrastructure provided by FEDERICA, PASITO and OneLab projects. FEDERICA project provides a network infrastructure, based on virtualization capabilities in both network and computing resources, which creates custom-made virtual environments. PASITO is a layer- 2 network that connects universities and research centers in Spain. OneLab measurements tools allow carrying out highaccuracy active network measurements. Thanks to FEDERICA and PASITO, we have a multi-layer architecture where the traffic is routed based on the measurements of OneLab equipment. To carry out this experiment, we have developed a Multi-layer Traffic Engineering manager and an implementation of the Path Computation Element Protocol to solve the lack of a control plane in IP oriented networks. This work shows the feasibility of multilayer techniques as a convenient solution for network operators and it validates our Path Computation Element implementation.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science under project ANFORA (TEC2009-13385), by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade under PASITO project, and by the European Union under project OneLab2 (FP7-224263). Authors would like to thank Mauro Campanella (GARR, the project coordinator of FEDERICA) and Miguel Angel Sotos (RedIris) for their support to carry out this work

Comparative study of PCR-sexing procedures using bovine embryos fertilized with sex-sorted spermatozoa

Sex determination in bovine embryos is a useful tool in reproductive biotechnology. This work compares two techniques of embryo sexing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR. Embryos were produced in vitro with sex-sorted sperm and two techniques of DNA lysis were tested (proteinase K versus heat shock). Subsequently, halves of each lysed sample was amplified both by amelogenin and BRY4a/SAT1 primers. Male embryos treated by both digestion methods and amplified by BRY4a/SAT1 gave higher rates of false negatives. Amelogenin amplification failed with embryos previously digested by proteinase K. In contrast, the lysis method allowed obtaining the best accuracy in terms of sex verification when using amelogenin amplification

MODELAMIENTO DEL TAMBOR DE UNA CALDERA ACUOTUBULAR PARA UNA PLANTA DE ENERGÍA TÉRMICA

En el presente trabajo se modelo el comportamiento del tambor de una caldera acuotubular utilizada comúnmente en las plantas térmicas generadoras de energía eléctrica. Se tomó como base el modelo dinámico no lineal para calderas acuotubulares propuesto por (Aström & Bell, 2000), se presentan los balances de masa y energía para los tres principales componentes de la caldera el tambor y la sección de tubos de subida y de bajada. Se simuló el comportamiento dinámico del tambor de la caldera en Simulink-Matlab para un modelo estacionario con diferentes estados de agua a la entrada y de vapor a la salida del tambor, para lo cual se cargó la tabla de propiedades termodinámicas para el agua y el vapor saturado

Synthesis, structure, and photophysical properties of platinum(II) (N, C, N) pincer complexes derived from purine nucleobases

The synthesis of a series of Pt{κ3-N,C,N′-[L]}X (X = Cl, RC≡C) pincer complexes derived from purine and purine nucleosides is reported. In these complexes, the 6-phenylpurine skeleton provides the N,C-cyclometalated fragment, whereas an amine, imine, or pyridine substituent of the phenyl ring supplies the additional N′-coordination point to the pincer complex. The purine N,C-fragment has two coordination positions with the metal (N1 and N7), but the formation of the platinum complexes is totally regioselective. Coordination through the N7 position leads to the thermodynamically favored [6.5]-Pt{κ3-N7,C,N′-[L]}X complexes. However, the coordination through the N1 position is preferred by the amino derivatives, leading to the isomeric kinetic [5.5]-Pt{κ3-N1,C,N′-[L]}X complexes. Extension of the reported methodology to complexes having both pincer and acetylide ligands derived from nucleosides allows the preparation of novel heteroleptic bis-nucleoside compounds that could be regarded as organometallic models of Pt-induced interstrand cross-link. Complexes having amine or pyridine arms are green phosphorescence emitters upon photoexcitation at low concentrations in CH2Cl2 solution and in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films. They undergo self-quenching at high concentrations due to molecular aggregation. The presence of intermolecular π–π stacking and weak Pt···Pt interactions was also observed in the solid state by X-ray diffraction analysis

The analytic hierarchy process to support decision-making processes in infrastructure projects with social impact

There is an increasing awareness among all kinds of organisations (in business,government and civil society) about the benefits of jointly working with stakeholders to satisfy both their goals and the social demands placed upon them. This is particularly the case within corporate social responsibility (CSR) frameworks. In this regard, multi-criteria tools for decision-making like the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) described in the paper can be useful for the building relationships with stakeholders. Since these tools can reveal decision-maker’s preferences, the integration of opinions from various stakeholders in the decision-making process may result in better and more innovative solutions with significant shared value. This paper is based on ongoing research to assess the feasibility of an AHP-based model to support CSR decisions in large infrastructure projects carried out by Red Electrica de España, the sole transmission agent and operator of the Spanishelectricity system

Induction of Engineered Residual Stresses Fields and Associate Surface Properties Modification by Short Pulse Laser Shock Processing

Laser shock processing (LSP) is consolidating as an effective technology for the improvement of metallic materials surface properties involving their fatigue life. The main acknowledged advantage of the LSP technique consists on its capability of inducing a relatively deep compression residual stresses field into metallic alloy pieces allowing an improved mechanical behaviour, explicitly the life improvement of the treated specimens against wear, crack growth and stress corrosion cracking. Progress accomplished by the authors in the line of practical development of the LSP technique at an experimental level, aiming its integral assessment from an interrelated theoretical and experimental point of view, is presented in this paper. Concretely, experimental results on the residual stress profiles and associated surface properties modification successfully reached in typical materials (especially Al and Ti alloys) under different LSP irradiation conditions are presented, a correlated analysis of the residual stress profiles obtained under different irradiation strategies and the evaluation of the corresponding induced surface properties as roughness and wear resistance being also presented. Through a coupled theoretical- experimental analysis the real possibilities of the LSP technique as a possible substitutive of related traditional surface modification techniques as, for example, shot peening