INNOVATIVE TOOLS TO ADDRESS DROUGHT RISK IN GRAZING LANDS

Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

New directions in water resources management: The role of water pricing policies

Water resources will face increasing competition and higher environmental concerns during this century. To meet these challenges, the new Water Framework Directive has drawn up an integrated framework and established the basic principles for a sustainable water policy in the European Union. The introduction of water prices reflecting the true cost of irrigation is one of its most innovative components. In this paper, a positive mathematical programming model is developed to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of water pricing policies in Spanish irrigated lands. The model interface allows friendly use and easy replication in a large number of irrigation districts, selected throughout the Spanish territory. The model results show the impact on environmental indicators, water consumption, cropping patterns, technology adoption, labor, farmers' income, and the water agency revenues when different scenarios of cost recovery are considered. It is argued that this modeling approach may be used as a management tool to assist in the implementation of the cost recovery approach of the new Water Framework Directive

MODELING THE BIOECONOMICS IMPACTS OF CO-MANAGEMENT IN CHILEAN ARTISANAL FISHERIES

The failure of the centralized management system and the intense over-exploitation of benthonic resources along the Chilean coast motivated the design and implementation of an innovative co-management policy in 1999. Although its positive effects have already been recognized at biological and organizational level, doubts have been posed with regards to its economic sustainability. In this paper, we present a bio-economic evaluation at national level for one of the most important and valuable benthonic resources, the Loco ecosystem. A dynamic simulation model is developed in order to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of the traditional centralized management and the co-management system recently implemented in Chile. The results show that the amount of captures and effort devoted during the centralized management period were significantly underestimated due to the existence of illegal captures. On the other side, the results reveal that, after a fearful beginning, the values for revenues, capture and stock were larger than those that would have been obtained in case the former centralized system had persisted.natural resource modeling, marine policy, co-management policy, artisanal fisheries management, Territorial Use Right Fisheries, Industrial Organization, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Valoració de la agudesa visual dinàmica segons l'experiència en el gènere de videojocs

Introducció: Els videojocs tenen una influència directa sobre la percepció visual de les persones habitualment usuàries. L’agudesa visual dinàmica (AVD) és l’habilitat que permet discriminar detalls en condicions de moviment relatiu entre subjecte i objecte, podent ser mesurada en diferents velocitats, contrasts i direccions. Objectius: Comparar el rendiment de la AVD de 5 grups diferents, segons el gènere de videojocs als que els participants juguen habitualment. Mètodes: Divuit participants entre 18 i 30 anys, dels quals 5 van entrar en el grup 1 (FPS), 3 van entrar en el 2 (Sports), 4 van entrar en el 3 (ROL/MOBA); i 6 en l’últim grup, el 4 (no jugadors habituals en videojocs d’acció). Es va avaluar la agudesa visual dinàmica amb el programa DynVA 3.0 utilitzant l’estímul anell-disc de Palomar a una velocitat de 0.445 m/s en dos condicions de contrast, 100% i 10%. Resultats: Es van observar diferències estadísticament significatives en l’AVD entre grups amb el 100% de contrast, P= 0.038. No es van trobar diferències entre els grups FPS vs Sports, FPS vs RPG/MOBA i RPG/MOBA vs Sports, P>0.05. En el cas del 10% de contrast no es van observar diferències estadísticament significatives entre grups, P=0.059, tot i que els que juguen a Sports i ROL/MOBA tendeixen a mostrar una AVD superior. Conclusions: L’AVD dels jugadors que acostumen a jugar a videojocs en general (FPS, Sports i Rol/MOBA) és més elevada que els que no juguen habitualment. En el cas del contrast baix, el grup de jugadors Sports i ROL/MOBA semblen tindre millor AVD que el grup que pertany a FPS.Introducción: Los videojuegos tienen una influencia directa sobre la percepción visual discriminatoria de las personas habitualmente usuarias. La agudeza visual dinámica (AVD) es la habilidad que permite discriminar detalles en condiciones de movimiento relativo entre sujeto y objeto, pudiendo ser medida en diferentes velocidades, contrastes y direcciones. Objetivos: Comparar el rendimiento de la AVD de 5 grupos diferentes, según el género de videojuego al que los participantes juegan habitualmente. Métodos: Dieciocho participantes entre 18 y 30 años, de los cuáles 5 entraron en el grupo 1 (FPS), 3 entraron en el 2 (Sports), 4 en el grupo 3 (ROL/MOBA); y 6 en el último grupo, el 4 (no jugadores habituales de videojuegos de acción). Se evaluó la agudeza visual dinámica con el programa DynVA 3.0 utilizando el estímulo anillo-disco de Palomar a una velocidad de 0.445 m/s en dos condiciones de contraste, 100% y 10%. Resultados: Se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la AVD entre grupos con el 100% de contraste, P=0.038. No se encontraron diferencias entre los grupos FPS vs Sports, FPS vs RPG/MOBA y RPG/MOBA vs Sports, P>0.05. En el caso del 10% de contraste no se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significatives entre grupos, P=0.059, aunque los jugadores de Sports y ROL/MOBA tienden a mostrar una AVD superior. Conclusiones: La AVD de los jugadores que normalmente juegan a videojuegos en general (FPS, Sports y ROL/MOBA) es más elevada que los que no juegan habitualmente. En el caso del contraste bajo, el grupo de jugadores Sports y ROL/MOBA parece tener mejor AVD que el grupo que pertenece a FPS.Introduction: Videogames have a direct influence above the perceptual discrimination in visual tasks on video game players. The dynamic visual acuity (DVA) is the skill that allows us to discriminate details when a relative movement exists between the viewer and the target. It can be measured at different velocities, contrasts, or directions. Aim: Compare the AVD’s capacity of five different groups, according to the videogame genre that the participants play regularly. Methods: Eighteen participants with an age between 18 and 30, 5 of them were included at the first group (FPS), 3 at the second (Sports), 4 at the third (ROL/MOBA); and 6 at the fourth (non-regular players of action videogames). Was evaluated the visual dynamic acuity with DynVA 3.0 software, using the Palomar ring-disc at a speed of 0.445 m/s under two contrast conditions, 100% and 10%. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed at the DVA between the groups at the 100% contrast, P=0.038. No differences were found between the groups of FPS vs Sports, FPS vs RPG/MOBA and RPG/MOBA vs Sports, P>0.05. In the case of 10% contrast, we didn’t find statiscally significant differences between the groups. P=0.059, although the videogame players of Sports and ROL/MOBA tend to have a higher DVA. Conclusions: The DVA of habitual players that enjoy videogames (FPS, Sports and ROL/MOBA) is generally higher than those who do not play regularly. In the case of low contrast, the group of Sports and ROL/MOBA seems to have a better DVA than the FPS group

Willingness to pay for biogas as cooking energy in the local communities of Hadejia Valley, Northern Nigeria

The majority of poor households in Nigeria depend on firewood to cook with dramatic impacts. The smoke of firewood use is known as the “silent killer” causing more than 95000 annual deaths (WHO, 2012) while illegal and uncontrolled logging to meet the demand of the growing population is leading to deforestation. There is an urgent need to look for sustainable sources of biomass and Typha Project[1] has developed a biogas technology making use of Typha biomass, an invasive plant that extends over thousands of hectares in Hadejia Valley (Northeastern Nigeria). In this context, the objective of this work is to assess adoption and estimate the willingness to pay for this novel biogas technology A logit model has been used to analyze adoption of biogas by households considering the information gathered in the focus groups and a field survey. The most relevant factor triggering adoption is related to health issues and the experience of respiratory diseases. We also observe that among those women who are willing to change, those who spend more time cooking are more likely to change to biogas. This is consistent with the fact that biogas cooking is a clean and quick way of cooking

Wearable Fabry-Pérot Antenna

A wearable version of Fabry-Perot antenna is presented. This is a simple way of designing a medium- to high-gain antenna with low back radiation. The study of the effect of antenna bending in the performances is presented. Besides, the replacement of a superstrate layer by a metallic frequency selective surface is proposed. In this way, there is no need of finding a specific material and thickness for a targeted gain and frequency. Experimental validation confirms the viability of this design.This work has been funded by projects TEC2013-44019-R and TEC2016-79700-C2-2-R and S2013/ICE-3000

Valoración del paisaje agrario como externalidad positiva en sistemas tradicionales de olivar

Históricamente el cultivo del olivar se ha venido emplazando en la Cuenca Mediterránea en fincas de producción marginal, en terrenos en pendiente y/o zonas áridas, representando un paisaje agrario singular que integra el cultivo del olivo en el bosque mediterráneo, portador de una gran diversidad de flora y fauna, con presencia de variedades locales, ejemplares de olivos centenarios y milenarios, infraestructuras de producción históricas como terrazas o bancales. Asimismo, este agro-ecosistema va ligado a todo un conocimiento vinculado al manejo del olivar tradicional mediterráneo. El descenso de las ayudas a la producción en la UE está provocando una pérdida de rentabilidad económica de las explotaciones tradicionales de olivar, con el inminente riesgo de su abandono, lo que supondría la erosión de dicho ecosistema y pérdida de la cultura local. En el presente trabajo se pretende valorar la disposición a pagar de la sociedad por bienes y servicios que proceden de sistemas productivos que impliquen la conservación y puesta en valor de los espacios agrarios tradicionales. El valor (disponibilidad a pagar) de estos bienes y servicios permitirá orientar la política territorial y el diseño de políticas agroambientales dirigidas al olivar

Array of stacked leaky-wave antennas in groove gap waveguide technology

The design of an array of stacked leaky-wave antennas in groove gap waveguide technology is presented in this work. The proposed array is formed by simply stacking a number of leaky-wave antennas one on top of the other and feeding all of them with uniform amplitude and phase. The inter-element distance is studied in order to avoid grating lobes and to maximize the directivity. A feeding network based on vertical coupling is designed, where the input port feeds the bottom element, and then the energy is equally coupled to the other elements. To obtain maximum directivity the phase is corrected at each element separately. The central frequency of the proposed design is 28 GHz. With this technique of stacking the elements a pencil beam is achieved, i.e. the radiated energy is focalized in the two main planes. The designed array with four elements achieves an enhancement of + 5 dB, reaching 24.5 dBi of directivity in comparison to 19.6 dBi of directivity of the single leaky-wave antenna made in this technology. A prototype is manufactured and measured and its results are presented and compared with the simulations.This work has been partly funded by the Spanish Government through projects TEC2016-79700-C2-2-R and PID2019-107688RB-C21