Nuevas lombrices de tierra acanthodrilidas de los géneros protozapotecia y trigaster de Cuba (annelida, crassiclitellata)

Four new Cuban species of the family Acanthodrilidae are described from west (Protozapotecia angelesae sp.nov.), center (Protozapotecia centralis sp.nov., Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov.) and east (Trigaster setarmata sp.nov.) regions. The new species are closely related to northeast and east Mexico (Protozapotecia and Zapatadrilus) and Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands earthworms (Trigaster). Whereas new Protozapotecia species possess two gizzards and holonephridia, Trigaster setarmata sp.nov. has three gizzards and meronephridia. Protozapotecia angelesae sp.nov. is separated from all Mexican species of the genus by the absence of typhlosole and penial setae and by presence of free lamellae in the esophagus of 11 and 12. The presence of penial setae and typhlosole relates the other two new Protozapotecia species to Mexican worms; from all of them, Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov is separated by a dorsal pore in 4/5, free calciferous lamellae in 13 and a lateral spermathecal diverticulum, whereas Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov. is differentiated by last hearts in 13 and calciferous lamellae in segments 13, 14 and 15. Trigaster setarmata sp.nov. is separated from the four recognized species of the genus by the presence of penial setae and racemose prostatic glands. Clarification of the origin of Cuban acanthodrilids (dispersion or vicariant events) will depend on future sampling and on the elaboration of robust molecular phylogenies.Se describen cuatro nuevas especies de la familia Acanthodrilidae del oeste (Protozapotecia angelesae sp.nov.), centro (Protozapotecia centralis sp.nov., Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov.) y este de Cuba (Trigaster setarmata sp.nov.). Las nuevas especies están cercanamente relacionadas con la fauna del noreste y este de México (gé- neros Protozapotecia y Zapatadrilus) y de Puerto Rico e islas Vírgenes (Trigaster). Las nuevas especies de Protozapotecia se caracterizan por tener dos mollejas y holonefridios, mientras que la especie nueva de Trigaster presenta tres mollejas y meronefridios. Protozapotecia angelesae sp.nov. se separa de las especies mexicanas del género por carecer de tiflosol y quetas peneales y por presentar láminas esofágicas libres en los segmentos 11 y 12. Por la presencia de quetas peneales y tiflosol, las otras dos especies nuevas de Protozapotecia se acercan más a la fauna mexicana; mientras que Protozapotecia centralis sp.nov. se separa de todas ellas por el poro dorsal anterior en 4/5, las láminas esofágicas libres en el segmento 13 y el divertículo espermatecal lateral sésil, Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov. se diferencia por los últimos corazones en el segmento 13 y por las láminas esofágicas libres en los segmentos 13,14 y 15. Trigaster setarmata sp.nov. se separa de las cuatro especies conocidas del género por presentar quetas peneales y próstatas racemosas. Clarificar el origen de la fauna de acanthodrilidos cubanos (dispersión o vicarianza) dependerá de futuras colectas y de contar con filogenias moleculares robusta

Implications of Oil Price Shocks for the Macroeconomy of African Oil exporting countries : evidence from Angola and Nigeria

Angola and Nigeria are the two largest oil production countries in Africa. Oil related activities represent a large proportion of their economic activity which make them vulnerable to oil price shocks. A large body of research suggests that oil price fluctuations have considerable consequences on economic activity, however, the empirical literature on macroeconomics effects of oil price shocks is biased towards developed oil importing countries and lacks developing countries study cases (Bangara & Dunne, 2018). Following existing literature (Jiménez-Rodríguez & Sánchez, 2004), a quarterly four variables SVAR from 2002Q1 to 2017Q4 is applied to investigate the implications of oil price shocks in the key macroeconomic variables of Angola and Nigeria. The study finds that even though the two countries share similar dependence on oil exports, there is strong evidence that they react differently to crude oil price shocks. While in Angola oil prices granger-cause real GDP, real exchange rate and inflation, in Nigeria it only granger-cause real exchange rate. Furthermore, whereas in Angola, a positive oil price shock, increases real GDP, contributes to an appreciation of the real exchange rate and a reduction in inflation. In Nigeria, real GDP doesn’t seem to respond significantly to oil price shocks and at least in the short run neither inflation. These results suggest that Angola is more vulnerable to oil price shocks than Nigeria which maybe explained by the different structure of their domestic economies as well as the differences in the reserve buffers strategies to soften the magnitude of the external shock’s impact.Angola e Nigéria são os dois maiores produtores de petróleo em África. A maior parte da literatura empírica consultada sugere que flutuações do preço do petróleo têm um impacto considerável na atividade económica dos países. Entretanto, estes estudos analisam maioritariamente países desenvolvidos (importadores de petróleo). Sendo que existe uma carência de estudos de casos de países em desenvolvimento exportadores de petróleo (Bangara & Dunne, 2018). Seguindo a literatura (Jiménez-Rodríguez & Sánchez, 2004), procuramos investigar as implicações dos choques petrolíferos em Angola e na Nigéria através da aplicação de um SVAR de 2002Q1 a 2017Q4. O estudo constata que, embora os dois países sejam similarmente dependentes das exportações de petróleo, há fortes evidências de que eles reagem de maneira diferente aos choques petrolíferos. Em Angola os choques petrolíferos causam (no sentido de Granger) um aumento do PIB real, da taxa de câmbio real e da inflação. Mas, na Nigéria os choques petrolíferos causam apenas a taxa de câmbio real. Além disso, enquanto em Angola, um aumento no preço do petróleo, aumenta o PIB real, contribui para uma apreciação da taxa de câmbio real e uma redução da inflação. Na Nigéria, o PIB real não parece responder de forma significativa aos choques petrolíferos e, pelo menos a curto prazo, nem à inflação. Os resultados sugerem que Angola é mais vulnerável aos choques petrolíferos do que a Nigéria e aponta como possível explicação a diferença na estrutura económica, e na existência de fundos de estabilização macroeconómica

Eye-CU: Sleep Pose Classification for Healthcare using Multimodal Multiview Data

Manual analysis of body poses of bed-ridden patients requires staff to continuously track and record patient poses. Two limitations in the dissemination of pose-related therapies are scarce human resources and unreliable automated systems. This work addresses these issues by introducing a new method and a new system for robust automated classification of sleep poses in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) environment. The new method, coupled-constrained Least-Squares (cc-LS), uses multimodal and multiview (MM) data and finds the set of modality trust values that minimizes the difference between expected and estimated labels. The new system, Eye-CU, is an affordable multi-sensor modular system for unobtrusive data collection and analysis in healthcare. Experimental results indicate that the performance of cc-LS matches the performance of existing methods in ideal scenarios. This method outperforms the latest techniques in challenging scenarios by 13% for those with poor illumination and by 70% for those with both poor illumination and occlusions. Results also show that a reduced Eye-CU configuration can classify poses without pressure information with only a slight drop in its performance.Comment: Ten-page manuscript including references and ten figure

Avaliação e Impacte Ambiental e Económico de Medidas Agro-ambientais no Contexto da Evolução da PAC: O caso da Sementeira Directa no Sistema de Produção de Culturas Arvenses de Sequeiro da Região Alentejo

A consciencialização da necessidade de desenvolver sistemas agrícolas sustentáveis, de reduzir os impactes ambientais das práticas agrícolas e o compromisso da UE integrar as questões ambientais na política agrícola (PAC) traduziu-se na obrigatoriedade do cumprimento da ecocondicionalidade e na implementação de medidas agro-ambientais nos Estados-Membros. O principal objectivo deste artigo é avaliar ambiental e economicamente o sistema de produção agrícola de sequeiro da região Alentejo e os efeitos da medida agro-ambiental - sementeira directa no contexto de evolução da PAC, nomeadamente com a Agenda 2000 e com a aplicação do Regime de Pagamento Único (RPU). Determinam-se indicadores agro-ambientais e económicos de actividades e tecnologias agrícolas para posterior incorporação num modelo de programação linear da exploração agrícola tipo desse sistema de produção. Os resultados do modelo indicam que a sementeira directa permite obter melhores níveis de rendibilidade e menores impactes ambientais na generalidade dos temas ambientais. A aplicação do RPU e em simultâneo a não obrigatoriedade de set aside, melhora a rendibilidade pois o efeito do aumento da área cultivada é superior ao efeito da modulação. Com o RPU e, consequente desligamento das ajudas, verifica-se uma redução acentuada do preço sombra da terra e dos valores duais dos indicadores ambientais, significando que o decréscimo de margem líquida associado à redução de uma unidade de impacte ambiental é menor que nas medidas políticas anteriores, o que favorece a implementação de medidas ambientais que exigirão encargos orçamentais adicionais muito menores

Economical and environmental trade-offs of traditional Mediterranean dry farming systems in the Alentejo region of Portugal.

This paper aims assessing the economic and environmental trade-offs of traditional Mediterranean dry farming systems in the Alentejo region, southern Portugal. An environmental analysis using environmental indicators, such as the nitrogen balance, energy input, greenhouse gas emissions, acidification, eutrophication impacts, as well as an aggregated eco-indicator were developed. For assessing economic returns of farming systems, a budgeting analysis was carried out. Then the environmental and economic analysis was integrated in a linear programming model which was developed for a regional farm type. This model was used to assess the farm net profit under different policy measures, as well as to obtain the economic trade-off of each environmental indicator through its dual solution regarding the respective shadow prices. Results show that farm net profit greatly varies among crops for the different policy scenarios considered and the economic and environmental trade-offs highlights the important role other crops than cereals in rotations for promoting the sustainability of Mediterranean crop system

Sustainability of crop and livestock dominant dryland system of Alentejo region: do they have large differences in economic returns and environmental consequences?

This paper presents a case study with two traditional Mediterranean-type farming systems: grazing dominant and cropping dominant, of the Alentejo region of Portugal. Farming systems traditional of the Alentejo area and of the Mediterranean region are compared in terms of economic returns, environmental impacts and trade-offs. Methodological aspects for environmental impacts evaluation during cradle-to-gate of a product are assessed through two tools: Life Cycle Assessment and Input-Output analysis with environmental accounts. These tools reveal and quantify environmental occurring within supply chain of a good or service and define a solid base for their environmental performances assessment. The application of these two tools is believed to yield more benefits than if used separately. Such combination delivers solid results that can be used for an economic evaluation of environmental impacts. For each farming system it is developed a linear programming model that emphasizes the biology and economics of the farming systems. The objective function is profit maximization, subject to managerial, resource and environmental constraints. Shadow prices are compared for both cropping systems to evaluate cost and efficiency of policies that constrains environmental consequences and promote sustainability

Ant Communities along a Gradient of Plant Succession in Mexican Tropical Coastal Dunes

Most of Mexican coastal dunes from the Gulf of Mexico have been severely disturbed by human activities. In the state of Veracruz, the La Mancha Reserve is a very well preserved coastal community of sand dunes, where plant successional gradients are determined by topography. In this study we assessed species richness, diversity and faunal composition of ant assemblages in four plant physiognomies along a gradient of plant succession: grassland, shrub, deciduous forest and subdeciduous forest. Using standardized and non-standardized sampling methods we found a total of 121 ant species distributed in 41 genera and seven subfamilies. Grassland was the poorest site (21 species) and subdeciduous forest the richest (102 species). Seven species, with records in ≥10% of samples, accounted 40.8% of total species occurrences: Solenopsis molesta (21.6%), S. geminata (19.5%), Azteca velox (14%), Brachymyrmex sp. 1LM (11.7%), Dorymyrmex bicolor (11.2%), Camponotus planatus (11%) and Pheidole susannae (10.7%). Faunal composition between sites was highly different. Nearly 40% of all species were found in a single site. In all sites but grassland we found high abundances of several species typical of disturbed ecosystems, indicating high levels of disturbance. A species similarity analysis clustered forests in one group and grassland and shrub in another, both groups separated by more than 60% of dissimilarity. Similarity of ant assemblages suggests that deciduous and subdeciduous forests represent advanced stages of two different and independent successional paths

Nesting behavior of the Elegant Euphonia (Euphonia elegantissima, Aves: Fringillidae) in urban and suburban sites of east Mexico

Between 2005, 2014–2017, we studied six Elegant Euphonia (Euphonia elegantissima) nests from two sites (urban and suburban) in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz. They were located in a macadamia tree crown, under epiphytic bromeliads, and under hanging fern and Euphorbia pots. The two nests we extracted and measured (7.2 x 7.5 x 5.6 cm; 10.1 x 8.6 x 11 cm), were closed and globular, with a lateral entry and mainly made of plant fibers, leaves, and cobwebs. Our observations included nest construction, egg incubation and chick care (nestling phase). Nest construction took at least 10–11 days, while egg incubation took 14–18 days. Incubation was done by the female in all but one observation, and the male escorted the female to the nest on every occasion. Time of incubation sessions ranged from 36–88 min (mean = 62 min) with shorter out nest sessions (3–18 min, mean = 9 min). There were three eggs in two of the nests, and in one only two eggs hatched; four chicks were observed in another nest. The nestling phase lasted 20 days in two nests, with the male spending more time (35–300 s, mean = 109 s) than the female taking care of the chicks (25–99 s, mean = 53 s). Reciprocal escorting was observed during the nestling phase, with the male always arriving first. Breeding occurred in January, April, May (two nests), June, and July. Observing the male of the Elegant Euphonia escorting the female during the incubation period, corroborates previous observations of this behavior in genera Euphonia and Chlorophonia. Incubation and nestling time periods were similar to other species of these genera.Durante los años 2005, 2014–2017, estudiamos seis nidos del monjito (Euphonia elegantissima) en dos sitios urbanos y suburbanos de la ciudad de Xalapa. Los nidos se localizaron en la punta de un árbol de macadamia, debajo de bromelias epífitas y debajo de macetas colgantes con helechos o euforbiáceas. Los dos nidos que fueron colectados fueron cerrados y esféricos (7.2 x 7.5 x 5.6 cm; 10.1 x 8.6 x 11 cm), con una entrada lateral y estuvieron fabricados principalmente de fibras vegetales, hojas y telarañas. Las observaciones incluyeron la construcción del nido, la incubación de los huevos y el cuidado de los polluelos. La construcción de los nidos tardó al menos entre 10 y 11 días. La incubación de los huevos duró entre 14 y 18 días. En todos los casos con excepción de uno, la incubación fue hecha por la hembra y en todas las observaciones el macho escoltó a la hembra al nido. El tiempo de incubación por sesión fue de 36–88 min (media = 62 min) con sesiones fuera del nido más cortas (3–18 min, media = 9 min). En dos nidos se encontraron tres huevos, en uno de los cuales sólo dos huevos eclosionaron; en otro nido se observaron cuatro polluelos. En dos nidos la fase de polluelos duró lo mismo, 20 días, presentando los machos un mayor tiempo de cuidado de los polluelos (35–300 s, media = 109 s) que las hembras (25–99 s, media = 53 s). Se observó una escolta recíproca durante la fase de polluelos, siendo el macho el primero en llegar siempre. La reproducción ocurrió en los meses de enero, abril, mayo (dos nidos), junio y julio. Al registrarse para el monjito la escolta de la hembra por el macho durante la fase de incubación, se corroboran observaciones previas en los géneros Euphonia y Chlorophonia. Los tiempos observados para las fases de incubación y polluelos fueron similares a valores previamente publicados para las especies de ambos géneros

Caracterización antropométrica y maduración de una población de futbolistas jóvenes portugueses

Objetivo Describir las características antropométricas y la maduración de una población de deportistas jóvenes con proyección para llegar a profesionales del fútbol. Muestra Se han estudiado 108 futbolistas (14-16 años) pertenecientes a las escuelas deportivas del Sporting Clube de Portugal. Métodos Las variables utilizadas en este estudio han sido el peso, la altura, la predicción de la altura y la altura de sentado, la maduración y el puesto específico. Los futbolistas han sido agrupados por edad y por puestos específicos. Resultados Se han encontrado diferencias significativas por edades en todas las variables estudiadas, excepto en la predicción de la altura. Por puestos específicos, los medios presentan diferencias significativas en todas las variables con los delanteros; en todas excepto el peso con los defensas; y en estatura con los porteros. Conclusiones La altura y el peso no son determinantes para el rendimiento pero sí deben ser consideradas para la elección de ciertos puestos específicos

Characterization of a population of young Portuguese soccer players

Objectiu: Descriure les característiques antropomètriques i la maduració d’una població de joves esportistes amb projecció per arribar a professionals del futbol. Mostra: S’han estudiat 108 futbolistes (14-16 anys) pertanyents a les escoles esportives de l’Sporting Clube de Portugal. Mètodes: Les variables utilitzades en aquest estudi han estat el pes, l’alçada, la predicció de l’alçada i l’alçada assegut, la maduració i el lloc específic. Els futbolistes han estat agrupats per edat i lloc específics. Resultats: S’han trobat diferències significatives per edats en totes les variables estudiades, llevat de la predicció d’alçada. Per llocs específics, els mitjos presenten diferències significatives en totes les variables amb els davanters; en totes, tret del pes, amb els defenses; i l’alçada, amb els porters. Conclusions: L’alçada i el pes no són determinants per al rendiment, però sí han de ser considerats per l’elecció de determinats llocs específics.Objective: To describe the anthropometric and maturity characteristics of a young athlete population who wish to play professional football. Sample: We studied 108 players (14-16 years) belonging to the schools of Sporting Club of Portugal. Methods: The variables used in this study were weight, height, predicted height and sitting height, maturity and the specific position. The players were grouped by age and by specific positions. Results: We found significant differences by age in all variables except for height prediction. The centers presented significant differences in all variables when compared with the forwards, in all but the weight when compared with the defenders, and in stature when compared with the goalkeepers. Conclusions: Height and weight are not critical for performance, but should be considered for the choice of certain specific positions