Analysis of tourism competitiveness and the key influencers

The aim of this research is measure and analyse the tourism competitiveness, which has become one of the great challenges of tourism researchers in recent years. We analyze the relationship between tourism competitiveness and major tourist magnitudes, relations with most tourist destinations, and some pillars that measure competitiveness such as sustainability. A methodology for calculating an indicator of tourism competitiveness based on a double reference point is proposed, taking into account a level of aspiration and reserve level for each pillar of competitiveness. They are considered different degrees of offset between the pillars so that a series of synthetic indices are calculated. Later the rankings obtained for each country are analyzed and conducted a series of analyses. This tool provides managers with a useful and accurate tool, an interactive flexible and easy to use multi-criteria decision on their part. Allows simulation of situations, monitoring and control of various indicators. Later statistical tools for analyzing and comparing tourism competitiveness and other quantities are used.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Supplementary report to the final report of the coral reef expert group: S2. Practical taxonomy for RIMReP coral reef monitoring — macroalgae

[Extract] This report reviews the benefits and limitations of seven assessment and classification schemes for macroalgae that have been applied in coral reef monitoring. It provides recommendations for a practical scheme of algae identification for use in the Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program (RIMReP).An accessible copy of this report is not yet available from this repository, please contact [email protected] for more information

Immunohistochemical study of angiogenesis, cellular proliferation and fatty acid synthase (FASN) in minor and major primary malignant salivary gland tumors

Orientador: Pablo Agustin VargasTexto em português e inglês.Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de PiracicabaResumo: Introdução: Os tumores das glândulas salivares (TGS) são lesões incomuns e correspondem a aproximadamente 3 a 10% das neoplasias que acometem a região de cabeça e pescoço. A angiogênese, proliferação celular e a expressão da enzima ácido graxo sintase (FASN) podem interferir nos mecanismos de progressão tumoral e comportamento clínico dos tumores malignos de glândulas salivares. Objetivos: Avaliar imunoistoquímicamente a angiogênese, índice de proliferação celular e expressão de FASN em tumores malignos de glândulas salivares maiores e menores e correlacionar a expressão destes biomarcadores com os dados clínicos e agressividade histopatológica além de comparar a expressão de FASN e Ki67 entre 12 casos de adenoma pleomorfo e 6 de carcinoma ex-adenoma pleomorfos. Pacientes e Métodos: Foram utilizadas 52 peças cirúrgicas de pacientes portadores de tumores malignos de glândulas salivares maiores e menores e 12 de adenomas pleomorfos como controle do marcador FASN e Ki67. As amostras de tecidos dos TGS malignos foram submetidas a reações imunoistoquímicas para os anticorpos CD31, CD34, CD105, e para ambos tipos de tumores Ki-67 e FASN. Para a quantificação microvascular e determinação da proliferação celular utilizamos os métodos quantitativos Microvessel Analysis Algorithm e Nuclear Image Analysis Algorithm com o software ImageScope (Aperio Scanscope® CS System). Foi utilizado o método semi-quantitativo convencional para a análise do marcador FASN. Resultados: O local anatômico mais acometido foi a parótida (67,3%), os pacientes apresentaram idade média de 50,2±21,9 anos e 17,6% tiveram metástases à distância. A densidade microvascular nas áreas intra e peritumorais com marcadores CD31, CD34 e CD105 não mostrou significância estatística em relação aos índices de proliferação celular ou expressão de FASN (P>0,05). Os TGS malignos de alto grau apresentaram altos índices de proliferação celular (P0.05). However, patients with high-grade malignant SGT showed higher rates of cell proliferation (P<0.006) and increased expression of FASN (P<0.003) at the same time to 6 cases of carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenoma compared with 6 of pleomorphic adenoma (P<0.001). Conclusions: These data suggest that malignant salivary gland tumors with high levels of Ki-67 and FASN may be associated with high index of cellular proliferation in high-grade malignant SGT and its overexpression may be a useful marker for carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenomaDoutoradoPatologiaDoutora em Estomatopatologi

Automatic Recognition of Mammal Genera on Camera-Trap Images using Multi-Layer Robust Principal Component Analysis and Mixture Neural Networks

The segmentation and classification of animals from camera-trap images is due to the conditions under which the images are taken, a difficult task. This work presents a method for classifying and segmenting mammal genera from camera-trap images. Our method uses Multi-Layer Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) for segmenting, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for extracting features, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) for selecting features, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) or Support Vector Machines (SVM) for classifying mammal genera present in the Colombian forest. We evaluated our method with the camera-trap images from the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute. We obtained an accuracy of 92.65% classifying 8 mammal genera and a False Positive (FP) class, using automatic-segmented images. On the other hand, we reached 90.32% of accuracy classifying 10 mammal genera, using ground-truth images only. Unlike almost all previous works, we confront the animal segmentation and genera classification in the camera-trap recognition. This method shows a new approach toward a fully-automatic detection of animals from camera-trap images

Distribution and structure of the southernmost Caribbean coral reefs: golfo de Urabá, Colombia

The Gulf of Urabá represents the southernmost portion of the Caribbean Sea. Due to the large amounts of sediment and freshwater discharged by the Atrato river and several minor streams, water conditions in the area are far from being optimal for coral settlement and growth. However, fringing and patch reefs are developed along the rocky shores of the northwest margin of the Gulf. Based on field observations performed at 44 sites (12 of them assessed quantitatively), interpretation of air photography of the area and depth profiles, the distribution, structure and zonation of the reefs are described. Classification analysis of the 12 sample sites yielded four coral assemblages: Diploria strigosa, crustose algae, Siderastrea siderea, Agaricia spp., and mixed massive corals. Other two assemblages, dominated respectively by Millepora complanata and thickets of Acropora palmata were noticed during reconnaissance dives. The distribution of these zones within the reef seems likely to be mainly controlled by wave exposure, bottom topography, sedimentation, and light penetration. Reef development, coral diversity and live coral cover increase along the coast in a SE-NW direction, with an evident maximum near to the cove of Sapzurro, suggesting an overall improvement of conditions for coral growth and settlement in that direction. A total of 33 species of hard corals were recorded during the survey. It is apparent that the live coral cover, particularly of foliose and branching species, has notably declined recently

NAIRA III

NAIRA III uses computational intelligence techniques to extract metadata, create databases, help species tagging and automatically classify captured species into trap camera images. This performs the image processing in seven steps: the first step consists in extracting the metadata related to the information corresponding to the precise moment of the photographic capture, such as date, time and geographical coordinates (when the camera records this information), and the information that is printed in the photo frame such as the moon phase, temperature or camera code (Figure 1). The extracted data is organized in a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format, which has been built following the Darwin Core format standards.NAIRA III utiliza técnicas de inteligencia computacional para extraer metadatos, crear bases de datos, ayudar al etiquetado de especies y clasificar&nbsp; utomáticamente las especies capturadas en imágenes de cámaras trampa. Esta realiza el procesamiento de imágenes en siete pasos: el primer paso consiste en la extracción de los metadatos relacionados con la información correspondiente al momento preciso de la captura fotográfica, como fecha, hora y coordenadas geográficas (cuando la cámara registra esta información), y la información que se encuentra impresa en el marco de la fotografía como la fase lunar, temperatura o código de la cámara (Figura 1). Los datos extraídos son organizados en una hoja de cálculo en formato de Microsoft Excel, que ha sido construida siguiendo los estándares del formato Darwin Core

Relative roles of herbivory and nutrients in the recruitment of coral-reef seaweeds

The relative effects of and interactions between, bottom-up and top-down processes are fundamental to,population and community structure in both terrestrial and marine systems. These issues are especially critical for seaweed populations on coral reefs, since both bottom-up and top-down factors are suggested as causes of algal invasions during reef degradation. Although algal invasions require the establishment of new recruits, most previous studies of tropical. marine algae have focused on mature stages. We simultaneously manipulated nutrient supply to and herbivory on recruits of two ecologically different species of seaweed on the Great Barrier Reef. We found that herbivory strongly reduced both density and growth of recruits for both species, whereas nutrient supply had minor effects on growth of Lobophora variegata recruits and no detectable effects on Sargassum fissifolium recruits. Notwithstanding the dominance of herbivory. over nutrient effects, herbivory Was not uniform, but varied both between species and among response variables (density and size), and was apparently stronger for nutrient-enriched plants. Our data demonstrate that the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down processes may depend on the species, circumstances, and life-history processes under consideration. These results also emphasize the importance of herbivores to the protection of coral reefs against algal overgrowth

Seasonality in algal assemblages on upwelling-influenced coral reefs in the colombian caribbean

Seasonal changes of benthic algal assemblages have been Studied mainly in temperate and sub-tropical areas. It is not clear how natural processes contribute to the seasonal dynamics of algal assemblages on coral reefs, particularly in areas influenced by relatively cold upwelling waters. To investigate the seasonality in algal assemblages we monitored the percent cover of species and algal groups over one year (1994-1995) at two rocky-coral reefs at depths of 9-12 m on the Colombian Caribbean coast (Bahia Chengue,Tayrona National Natural Park, TNNP). The presence of relatively cold waters with temperatures of 25 degreesC and salinities of 36 ppt is indicative of upwelling events, while warm waters of 28-29 degreesC and salinities of 33 ppt indicate the rainy seasons in the area. The algal assemblage changed in composition and abundance throughout the year with a bimodal cover pattern observed for macroalgae and turf algae. During the rainy seasons (May to June and October to December) the assemblage was dominated by algal turfs (up to 43 % cover) and showed low macroalgal cover (< 20 %). In contrast, during the two upwelling periods (February and July to August) it was dominated by macroalgae (up to 44 % cover). Cover of brown macroalgae Dictyota spp. (mainly D. bartayresiana) declined from &AP; 34 % during the upwelling to only 5 % in the non-upwelling rainy seasons. Environmental data revealed a significant inverse correlation between water temperature and macroalgal cover, suggesting that increases in macroalgae are favoured by the presence of cold, upwelling events. It is likely that upwelling events bring nutrient rich waters that stimulate macroalgal growth, however, the role of nutrients regulating the abundance of macroalgae in the TNNP is yet to be investigated. The results of this study support the argument that benthic algal assemblages of coral reefs are a highly dynamic component of these ecosystems

Abastecimiento de agua potable para pequeñas comunidades rurales por medio de un sistema de colección de lluvia-planta potabilizadora

In this paper is showed the design of a system of drinking water supply for small rural communities trough rainfall collection-treatment plant. The design of the developed treatment plant considers a consumption of 60 1/h/d. In this work the following characteristics have been retained as the representatives for a rural comunity: £ 200 inhabitants; lack of potable water and electrical energy; to count on the possibility of supplying themselves of surface water under specific topographical conditions that they diminish the requirements of energy in the purification process. The rainwater harvesting represents a frequent scene in Latin America, and the proposed process of purification considers devices of low cost and easily operation.In this paper is showed the design of a system of drinking water supply for small rural communities trough rainfall collection-treatment plant. The design of the developed treatment plant considers a consumption of 60 1/h/d. In this work the following characteristics have been retained as the representatives for a rural comunity: ≤ 200 inhabitants; lack of potable water and electrical energy; to count on the possibility of supplying themselves of surface water under specific topographical conditions that they diminish the requirements of energy in the purification process. The rainwater harvesting represents a frequent scene in Latin America, and the proposed process of purification considers devices of low cost and easily operation

Taxonomic review of the coral Porites colonensis (Scleractinia: Poritidae) in the Colombian Caribbean

Porites colonensis is a coral from the Caribbean Sea; colonies are foliaceous, undulated, and plate-like. Polyps are dark brown or red with small bright white or green centers; Pali are present in corallites and the septal plan is bisymmetrical, conformed by three fused ventral septa, a dorsal solitary septum, and two pairs of lateral septa at each side of the dorso-ventral axis. P. colonensis is similar and can be confused with the smooth varieties of Porites astreoides and Porites branneri. There are three specimens collected from Colombia and previously identified as P. colonensis: one from Golfo de Urabá (Darién ecoregion), other from Islas del Rosario (Coralline Archipelagos ecoregion), and another from an unspecified locality, in addition to one published observation from the Golfo de Urabá without collected specimens. A recent finding of other specimens in the Tayrona National Natural Park (TNNP, Tayrona ecoregion) and the absence of a rigorous taxonomic revision for all specimens collected from Colombia showed that it was necessary to review the presence and distribution of P. colonensis in the Colombian Caribbean. A taxonomic review was done for all specimens collected from Colombia and previously identified as P. colonensis. Then, the morphologic variability of specimens that were confirmed as P. colonensis was described. Only the specimens from TNNP agreed with the holotype description of P. colonensis, while others agreed with flat varieties of P. astreoides. Thus, the presence of P. colonensis is confirmed for the first time for Colombia, but its presence in other Colombian localities outside Tayrona ecoregion could not be demonstrated. This is the only confirmed record of this species for the South American continental shelf. Furthermore, the skeletal characteristics of Colombian P. colonensis corallites showed large variability, exceeding the ranges previously described for the species