Nest Success of Dabbling Ducks in a Human-Mod ified Prairie : Effects of Predation and Habitat Variables at Different Spatial Scales

Nest success of dabbling ducks in the Prairie Pothole region of North America has been declining for the past 40 years in parallel with declines in duck populations. Low nest success seems to result from the combination of an extremely fragmented breeding ground in a human-dominated landscape with an abundant and expanding ii community of generalist nest predators. Studies that examined variables associated with nest vulnerability to predation have produced contradictory results, likely because of simplistic approaches, lack of spatio-temporal replication, use of artificial nests , and the effect of confounding variables. I attempted to clarify the equivocal findings of previous studies by using multiple regression to simultaneously examine the effect of several variables purportedly related to nest predation risk. I collected data on \u3e1,800 dabbling duck nests and associated variables for 16 habitat patches (14 managed for duck production) during two nesting seasons in North Dakota. At the habitat patch level, early and late in each breeding season, I studied the relationship of nest success and upland area, nest density, predator abundance and richness, abundance of alternative prey for predators, and visual and physical obstruction provided by the vegetation . At the spatial scale of the nest and its neighborhood, I examined the likelihood of nest predation in association to nest initiation date, year, distance from nest to a wetland and to an edge, vegetation type at the nest, visual obstruction and heterogeneity of the vegetation around the nest, duck nest species , predator abundance, and presence/absence of 5 carnivorous predators at the nest habitat patch. Nest success was generally low and highly variable in time, and among and within habitat patches. I found no relationship between nest success and any of the variables measured at the patch scale. At the nest level, only initiation date, distance to water, visual obstruction, predator abundance, and duck species had an effect. High variability in the data and the lack of patterns in the relationship of nest predation and the predictor variables precluded me from building a predictive model that explains nest success. Nest success could not be predicted, predation was incidental and risk was high, and there were no safe nest sites for hens to choose in a landscape swamped by nest predators . Nests were located randomly; therefore, there were no clues predators could use to enhance their success in finding nests

Phytochemical and analytical studies of feed and medicinal plants in relation to the presence of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are wide-spread in the plant kingdom; they are present in approximately 3 % of all flowering plants. Unsaturated PAs possess hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, genotoxic, teratogenic properties. Senecio species are common weeds and form part of the primary vegetation in disturbed environments. The distribution and coverage of species such as S. jacobaea and S. aquaticus have remarkably increased in the last decade and these plants pose a latent risk as feed contaminants. The present work analyzed the effect on the PA-degradation of four common feed production methods. In this work it could be established that if the starting material is contaminated with PA-containing plants, none of the herein analyzed feed production methods produces PA-free products. Hay production as well as pelleting are methods which involve only physical processes and they are the least effective methods for PA reduction. Methods involving chemical and biological processes produced a drastic reduction in the PA-content in the feed material analyzed. The reduction found in these methods might be enough to prevent acute intoxications but do not guarantee the safeness of the product for a long-term consumption. Regarding the use of PA-containing plants as herbal remedies, the two plants here studied pose a low risk.The PAs found in both plants are pyrrolizidine alkaloids monoester, specifically lycopsamine, imtermedine and their acetylated forms. These kind of PAs are the least toxic ones, and their concentration in the plant is very low, approximately 0.001 %. In addition, the administration route is topical, which reduces the intoxication risk

Permutation and local permutation polynomial of maximum degree

Let $F_q$ be the finite field with $q$ elements and $F_q[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$ the ring of polynomials in $n$ variables over $F_q$. In this paper we consider permutation polynomials and local permutation polynomials over $F_q[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$, which define interesting generalizations of permutations over finite fields. We are able to construct permutation polynomials in $F_q[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$ of maximum degree $n(q-1)-1$ and local permutation polynomials in $F_q[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$ of maximum degree $n(q-2)$ when $q>3$, extending previous results

Mejora aerodinámica de una moto de competición

Para comenzar, se ha realizado un estudio de datos de varios perfiles de ala para ver su comportamiento y, una vez escogido el que mejor se adapta a nuestras necesidades, se ha realizado un estudio en dos dimensiones mediante dos procesos diferentes. Para poder efectuar un estudio más extenso y completo, se ha decidido obtener un diseño de una moto completa, para así poder localizar nuestro perfil dentro de ésta y diseñar dos sistemas de alerones que se puedan estudiar, uno de alerones fijos y otro de alerones móviles. Como el objetivo de este proyecto es analizar el comportamiento del nuevo sistema de alerones móviles, se ha efectuado un estudio aerodinámico, tanto en posición fija como móvil, de los alerones integrados dentro del carenado dentro de un intervalo de velocidades e inclinaciones de la moto para compararlos después y poder sacar unas conclusiones precisas. Posteriormente, se ha decidido diseñar un mecanismo que permita a los alerones rotar respecto a un eje y tener un desfase respecto al ángulo de inclinación de la moto. Este mecanismo permitirá mantener las alas en el plano horizontal la mayor parte del tiempo y que no provoquen fuerzas transversales a la moto durante su paso por curva y su salida de ella. Finalmente, se ha diseñado un sistema electrónico capaz de captar el ángulo de inclinación de la moto para transmitirle la señal a un motor capaz de hacer girar los alerones

Living Space Needs of Small Housing in the Post-Pandemic Era: Malaga as a case study

The COVID-19 lockdown period has highlighted the ability of housing to accommodate a comprehensive programme typical of the city and its public space. Housing units of under 60 m2 and in blocks of flats are the more vulnerable, as they have a higher percentage of non-community open spaces. That problem was analysed using a methodology based on psychological, urban planning and architectural indicators applied to two coastal cities in the Mediterranean area of southern Spain. The results highlight three aspects in this type of dwelling: the need to consider the orientation of the housing to improve the quality of indoor and outdoor space; the need in public housing policies for a greater number of rooms to facilitate remote working; and finally, the importance of functional terraces overlooking green areas

Implementación del proceso de QA (Quality Assurance) basado en metodologías ágiles y automatización de pruebas

RESUMEN: En el desarrollo de un producto o la prestación de un servicio, se requieren procesos que permitan controlar y asegurar estándares de calidad establecidos, los productos de software no están exentos a la implementación de estos procesos, con el fin de producir software capaz de satisfacer las necesidades del usuario. En el modelo de desarrollo tradicional, está definida la fase de pruebas como una de las fases finales del desarrollo, en donde un conjunto de pruebas establecidas, son ejecutadas por un equipo de testers y con el fin de encontrar posibles fallos en el producto desarrollado, este modelo, sin embargo, no permite encontrar fallos en previas fases al desarrollo, lo que se traduce en muchos casos en un incremento de costos y tiempo. Por lo anterior, se propone la implementación de un nuevo proceso de QA, basado en metodologías ágiles y la automatización de pruebas que permita mejorar los tiempos de entrega y reducir las correcciones posteriores a las entregas

Cercador visual de la Generalitat de Catalunya

Actualment la plataforma gencat està dotada d'un cercador que ofereix informació textual. Té molts aspectes innovadors com ara el suggeriments, diverses pestanyes, destacats... Però la manera d'oferir la informació és estàndard, és a dir, que és la tradicional mitjançant títols i links a webs en les que l'usuari està interessat. Això fa que l'usuari hagi de llegir tota la informació de les entrades per determinar si la seva cerca ha estat un èxit. Gràcies a les característiques del cercador visual podríem accelerar aquest procés mitjançant imatges que representessin el que realment està cercant l'usuari donant l'opció d'accedir igualment a la informació oferta pel cercador estàndard. En aquest projecte s'ha desenvolupat per a una institució pública com és la Generalitat de Catalunya un cercador visual amb la finalitat de dotar la plataforma gencat d'una nova manera de cercar totalment innovadora i diferenciada de l'estàndard. Aquest servei s'ofereix per a les url's més visitades pels ciutadans i són obtingudes d' una eina analítica. Paral·lelament s'ha desenvolupat un procés batch que realitzarà de forma periòdica (quinzenal/mensual) les captures que es mostraran en el cercador

Energy Efficiency in Cooperative Wireless Sensor Networks

[EN] The transport of sensitive products is very important because their deterioration may cause the value lost and even the product rejection by the buyer. In addition, it is important to choose the optimal way to achieve this end. In a data network, the task of calculating the best routes is performed by routers. We can consider the optimal path as the one that provides a shortest route. However, if a real transport network is considered the shortest path can sometimes be affected by incidents and traffic jams that would make it inadvisable. On the other hand, when we need to come back, due to features that symmetry provides, it would be interesting to follow the same path in reverse sense. For this reason, in this paper we present a symmetric routing mechanism for cooperative monitoring system for the delivery of fresh products. The systems is based on a combination of fixed nodes and a mobile node that stores the path followed to be able of coming back following the same route in reverse sense. If this path is no longer available, the system will try to maintain the symmetry principle searching the route that provide the shortest time to the used in the initial trip. The paper shows the algorithm used by the systems to calculate the symmetric routes. Finally, the system is tested in a real scenario which combines different kind of roads. As the results shows, the energy consumption of this kind of nodes is highly influenced by the activity of sensors.This work has been supported by the "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad", through the "Convocatoria 2014. 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