Conservación de servicios ecosistémicos en humedales altoandinos: la participación social en la creación de un área natural protegida

The goal of the present work is synthesizing the process of collective construction developed to protect the high-altitude wetlands of the Blanco River basin, located in the Andes Mountains, Mendoza province. The participatory process arose out of an initiative of basin residents and users, and was conducted by the Integrative Committee for Creation of Potrerillos Municipal Environmental Protected Area (MEPA), composed of civil society organizations, government agencies and scientific institutions. The major pressures affecting the wetlands, identified through participatory assessment of the socio-ecosystem are: water pollution, reduction and total loss of habitat, stoppage of of groundwater flows, artificial drainage, poldering of the meadow, and fragmentation of the wetland system, among other pressures.In order to identify priority sites for conservation of the ecosystem services (ES) wetlands provide, local people identified and prioritized the six most important of them according to their perception: water for human consumption, agriculture and industry; aesthetic, spiritual and non-use representations; recreation and ecotourism; erosion control; water regulation and regulation of the biotic environment. The areas supplying ES were identified on the map of land use and land cover of the basin, with the wetland area, with tourist use and water catchment, and the watershed?s headwaters standing out as areas with higher ES provision. This process culminated in the creation of a protected area to halt the intense degradation affecting the wetland system, promoting maintenance of the natural area and improving its provision of ES. This collective process allowed integrating local and scientific knowledge, becoming an experience to be replicated in other areas in terms of conservation and land management. Among its major strengths is a strong coordination between the different social actors involved, which allowed success in reaching the implementation stage of a public policy for conservation.El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en sintetizar el proceso de construcción colectiva desarrollado con el fin de proteger los humedales de altura pertenecientes a la cuenca del Río Blanco de Potrerillos, localizados en la Cordillera de Los Andes, Provincia de Mendoza. El proceso participativo surgió ante una iniciativa de los pobladores locales y usuarios de la cuenca, y fue conducido por la Comisión Integradora para la Creación del Área Ambiental Protegida Municipal (AAMP) Potrerillos, integrada por organizaciones de la sociedad civil, instituciones gubernamentales y organismos científicos. Las principales presiones que afectan al humedal, identificadas a través del diagnóstico participativo del socioecosistema son: contaminación del agua, reducción y pérdida total de hábitat, corte del flujo de alimentación, drenaje artificial, polderización definitiva de vegas, fragmentación del sistema hidrológico, entre otras. A fin de determinar los sitios prioritarios para la conservación de servicios ecosistémicos (SE) que brinda el Sistema de humedales, la población local identificó y priorizó los seis más importantes de acuerdo a su percepción: agua para consumo humano, agricultura e industria; representaciones estéticas, espirituales y de no uso; recreación y ecoturismo; regulación de la erosión; regulación del ciclo hídrico y del ambiente biótico. Sobre el mapa de uso y cobertura de la tierra de la cuenca, fueron identificadas sus zonas proveedoras, destacándose el área de humedales con uso turístico y captación de agua, y las cabeceras de cuencas hídricas como las zonas con mayor provisión de SE. Este proceso culminó con la creación de un área natural protegida para detener el proceso de degradación intensiva que afecta al humedal, lo cual promueve el mantenimiento y la mejora de sus SE. Este proceso colectivo permitió integrar saberes locales con conocimiento científico, y se constituyó como una experiencia a replicar en otros territorios en el plano de la conservación y del ordenamiento territorial. Entre sus principales fortalezas se destaca la articulación sólida entre los diferentes actores sociales involucrados, que permitió alcanzar con éxito la etapa de implementación de una política pública de conservación.Fil: Rubio, María Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, María Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Salomon, Mario. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Abraham, Elena Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentin

"In vitro" evaluation of some properties in spore former bacteria isolated from calves faeces

Aims: To isolate and evaluate spore-former bacteria for being used as probiotic additives in animal nutrition by their technological features. Study Design: The study was experimental, by using calves’ faeces for spore-forming identification and further evaluation of their “in vitro” probiotic-related properties. Place and Duration of Study: Laboratory of Preventive Microbiology, Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (CERELA-CONICET), between June 2013 and November 2013. Methodology: In this work, some Bacillus strains were isolated from calves’ faeces and evaluated for their “in vitro” beneficial characteristics: Surface properties, biosurfactant and emulsification production, and inhibition of pathogens. The antibiotic sensibility was also assayed. Results: Two Bacillus strains were selected, identified by phenotypic and molecular techniques as Bacillus subtilis strains M14 and M12. Spores resulted to be more hydrophobic than vegetative cells. The M14 strain showed biosurfactant and emulsifying properties. Inhibition assays against pathogenic bacteria indicated they inhibit gram-positive microorganisms. The antibiotic susceptibility showed that the two strains were sensitive to the antibiotics assayed, except Bacillus M12 that was resistant to Kanamycin. Conclusion: The results indicate these strains can be further studied for their inclusion in the design of a probiotic product for newborn calves.Fil: Maldonado, Natalia Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Silva de Ruíz, Clara. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Nader, Maria Elena Fatima. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentin

Can social norms motivate Thermomix® users to eat sustainably?

Modern food systems, but especially animal farming, are found to be the leading driver of global climate change, accounting for 30% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Simultaneously, diets high in animal proteins cause serious health issues worldwide, including premature death, and will force health insurance companies to face significantly increasing costs. Therefore, an urgent transformation towards sustainable dietary choices is required by increasing plant-based diets while decreasing animal proteins. This will create environmental, social, and economic value. By applying value orientation and nudging theory, this research proposes (1) a positive impact of social norms on sustainable behaviour, (2) which is increased by self-transcendence values. These hypotheses were analysed using ordered logit models based on survey data obtained from users of a recipe website. Findings suggest that although a self-transcendence value orientation enhances sustainable dietary choices, social norm nudges are ineffective. Keywords: celebrity recommendation nudge, nudging, online food platform, sustainable behaviour, sustainable foo

Understanding worry and mindfulness through psycholinguistics.

Our understanding of psychological constructs through language has increased over the last few decades. However, only a few studies have explored linguistic features associated with worry and mindfulness. This is the first study using linguistics to investigate features of worry models associated with worry and mindfulness concomitantly. The current study reviews literatures regarding worry and mindfulness emotional, physiological, and cognitive features, including language. Next, the current study tested the hypotheses that excessive worry would be negatively correlated with present tense and positively correlated with number of words, number of questions, anxiety related words, and negative emotion words, while mindfulness would be positively correlated with present tense and negatively correlated with number of words, number of questions, anxiety related words, and negative emotion words. Further, the hypotheses that worry writing activity would be higher than neutral writing activity in number of words, number of questions, anxiety related words, and negative emotion words, and that worry writing activity would be lower than the neutral writing activity in present tense were also tested. In order to evaluate these hypotheses, 46 predominantly European American women were recruited from the community to complete self-report questionnaires and worry and neutral writing tasks. Results of the present investigation suggest that word categories related to emotions (i.e., anxiety and negative emotion words) hold associations with worry and mindfulness. Number of words, questions, and present tense did not reveal an association with worry and mindfulness levels in the present sample. Further, compared to a neutral task, worry activity had higher use of present tense, anxiety-related words, and negative emotion words. The findings may reflect avoidance of emotional content in those higher in worry and lower in mindfulness and acceptance of emotional experience by those lower in worry and higher in mindfulness. Future research should continue exploring linguistic features of worry and mindfulness in order to establish the relevant linguistic variables associated with these constructs, and, concomitantly, explore their clinical applications for treatment and assessment

Reflexones sobre la marcación preposicional del OD n'asturianu. Dellos datos medievales

La función d’oxetu directu (OD)n’asturianu pue ser preposicional o non (traxi a la mio amiga / traxi la mio filoxa). Alternancies asemeyaes danse n’otres munches variedaes romániques, la mayoría d’elles na Península ibérica y nel centru-sur de la Península italiana. Nesti trabayu faise un repasu de les principales cuestiones que cinquen la marcación selectiva del od na romania (orixe históricu, estensión xeográfica, marques formales, factores qu’influyen nella) pa entrar dempués na mecánica del fenómenu nel casu concretu asturianu, tema que ta bien poco estudiáu non solamente a nivel sincrónicu sinón tamién diacrónicu. Como contribución a la perspeutiva histórica, faise una comparanza ente la situación moderna y la de los sieglos xiiixv, al tenor de lo qu’amuesa un centenar aproximáu de documentos notariales del centru-occidente asturianuThe function of the Direct Object (DO) in Asturian can be prepositional or not (traxi a la mio amiga / traxi la mio filoxa). Alternations like these also appear in many other varieties of Romance languages, most of them in the Iberian Peninsula and also in the South-Central area of the Italian Peninsula. This paper gives an overview of the main themes related to the selective marking of the DO in the Romance languages (its historical origin, geographical extension, formal marks and factors that may influence them) and it also deals with the case of the Asturian Language in concrete, which has not been enough studied sufficiently neither in the synchronic aspect nor in the diachronic one. As a kind of contribution to the historical point of view, a comparison between the current situation and the situation in the 13th-15th Century is made according to what about a hundred of legal documents from the central-west area of Asturies sho

A proposal on how to apply the balanced scorecard to the collective investment managerial firms

lity. Consequently these firms need to reformulate their strategic forecast for the next years. This need arises, among other factors, from the collapse of global financial markets, progressive liberalizations in tax and company regulation and the evolution in information technology. Collective investments are very appealing for small investors, as they allow them to benefit from the skills of a professional management, as well as to spread different risks with a diversified portfolio in the different mutual funds. Nevertheless in moments of crisis such as the world is experiencing now, the great volatility of markets and capital losses clearly offset the attractiveness of the portfolio management. The starting point is to take into account the new scenario now developing in collective investment management firms: increasing competence, less captive clients, a more independent sales force, and decrease in their P&L account. With this background we propose to use a planning tool that, in the last ten years, has proven itself to be a great help in improving the management of the firms. The aim is to identify their core activities in order to define a better strategy, gain new clients, and improve the quality of their services. The final purpose is to increase their return on investment. Taking into account all the above mentioned reasons we have considered the collective investment management firms in Spain a good field to apply Balanced Scorecard as a device to improve management control . In our research paper, we propose a balanced scorecard model, exploring three possible strategic scenarios, together with an operating simulation of this device with a five years´scope for these type of firms. To obtain this model we have used dynamic systems theory and other information technology instruments.

The road to net zero: the role of transition plans and forward-looking indicators in portfolio management

Rationale This article offers a general description of the road towards an economy with zero net emissions (net zero), stressing the importance of this process in portfolio management. To this end, it reviews several of the initiatives currently under way, and details the aspects needed to prepare a transition plan and how key metrics in this context are constructed. Takeaways •The transition towards climate neutrality or net-zero goals affects every sector of the economy, including, on the finance side, investment and asset management. Collectively, individual goals will enable the ultimate global goal to be met. This will call for detailed planning, as well as the implementation of strategies integrating climate and environmental risk management. •The process of setting goals and designing transition plans is currently at the stage of development and adoption by the investment and portfolio management sector, as well as by financial institutions and other firms. •The availability of reliable, comparable data is one of the main challenges in this area. This is the key ingredient for defining and setting goals, and also for designing forward-looking metrics to track the progress made in achieving them

The Representation of the Limit in Wim Wenders The Wings of Desire

[EN] Berlin has gone down in history for the construction of an internal physical boundary that, far from protecting the population from external agents, protected the city s inhabitants from themselves. This article analyses how Wim Wenders tells the story of the divided city in his film The Wings of Desire (1987), studying how he looks at the boundary that constructs the forced coexistence of two cities, how he conveys the reality of a city divided by a physical and ideological border, which locations in the city he selects, which actors he chooses as vehicles to narrate the story, and what relationships they maintain with the urban space. He uses the gaze of the angels as a vehicle, for whom a physical boundary does not exist. They have an unprejudiced and intense gaze, capable of getting close to people s souls, which allows them to see how each of us lives. Wenders constructs a narrative of the city that is articulated around two central themes: memory as a collective experience and perception as a vital and individual act. The reflections contained in this article aim to explore the mechanisms that allow us to discover and experience cities.[ES] Berlín ha pasado a la historia por la construcción de un límite físico interno que, lejos de proteger a la población de agentes externos, protegía a los habitantes de la ciudad de sí mismos. El presente artículo analiza cómo relata Wim Wenders la ciudad dividida en su película El cielo sobre Berlín (1987), estudiando qué mirada ejerce sobre el límite que construye la coexistencia forzada de dos ciudades, cómo nos traslada la realidad de una ciudad dividida por una frontera física e ideológica, qué localizaciones de la ciudad selecciona, qué actores escoge como vehículo para narrar su historia, y qué relaciones mantienen los mismos con el espacio urbano. Utiliza como vehículo la mirada de los ángeles, para los cuales un límite físico no existe. Estos poseen una mirada desprejuiciada e intensa, capaz de aproximarse al alma de las personas, que les permite ver cómo cada uno de nosotros vive. Wenders construye una narrativa de la ciudad que se articula a partir de dos ejes: lamemoria como experiencia colectiva y la percepción como acto vital e individual. Las reflexiones contenidas en este artículo pretenden ahondar en los mecanismos que nos permiten conocer y vivir las ciudades.Deltell Pastor, J.; Mejía Vallejo, CE. (2022). La representación del límite en El cielo sobre Berlín de Wim Wenders. VLC arquitectura. Research Journal. 9(1):101-126. https://doi.org/10.4995/vlc.2022.132181011269