Libanon : Heiße Spuren im „Mordfall Hariri“?

The teleosts Chelidonichthys cuculus, Trigloporus lastoviza, Serranus cabrilla and Trachinus draco, are important by-catch species, in terms of landed biomass and commercial value, from the continental shelf bottom trawl fishery off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). The main biological parameters of these species were calculated from monthly biological samplings, and were used along with three years pseudo-cohorts (2008-2010) obtained from monitoring on-board of the bottom trawl fleet, to assess their exploitation level through Virtual Population Analysis (VPA) and Yield per Recruit (Y/R) analysis. Time series of fishery independent indicators based on MEDITS surveys data such as the evolution of the abundance and biomass, the distribution range, and the Conservation Status of Fish b (CSFb), were also analyzed. All four species analyzed showed growth overfishing. The reductions of the fishing effort required to reach the Y/RF0,1 reference point were lower, 66-73% depending on the species, to those reported for the target species M. merluccius (87%), but higher than that reported for M. surmuletus (53%), in the study area in the period 2000-2010. The abundance and biomass, and the distribution range did not show any trend for the period 2001-2011, whereas the CSFb showed signs of recovery that may be due to the displacement of the trawl fishing effort from the shelf to the slope during the last decade. Our results underline the necessary incorporation of monitoring and assessment of by-catch species to the management of fisheries as their populations can show a more pronounced overexploitation than target ones

Electrical properties of individual tin oxide nanowires contacted to platinum electrodes

A simple and useful experimental alternative to field-effect transistors for measuring electrical properties free electron concentration nd, electrical mobility , and conductivity in individual nanowires has been developed. A combined model involving thermionic emission and tunneling through interface states is proposed to describe the electrical conduction through the platinum-nanowire contacts, fabricated by focused ion beam techniques. Current-voltage I-V plots of single nanowires measured in both two- and four-probe configurations revealed high contact resistances and rectifying characteristics. The observed electrical behavior was modeled using an equivalent circuit constituted by a resistance placed between two back-to-back Schottky barriers, arising from the metal-semiconductor-metal M-S-M junctions. Temperature-dependent I-V measurements revealed effective Schottky barrier heights up to BE= 0.4 eV

Variability of physical factors relevant to fisheries production in the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea

Recent publications have shown that river runoff and wind mixing are two major environmental factors affecting productivity of fish populations in subtropical and tropical areas, as opposed to water temperature in colder waters. In the present paper, we compare the variability of seawater temperature, river runoff and wind mixing in three different seas: a subtropical sea (the Mediterranean) and two cold seas (the North Sea and the Baltic). Temperature variability decreased from colder to warmer areas. The highest temporal variability in the river runoff corresponded to rivers flowing into the Mediterranean, and the lowest corresponded to rivers flowing into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The variability in the wind mixing index (cube of the wind speed) depended on the area under consideration, and attained maximum values in the Cap Béar station (northwestern Mediterranean). The effect of these regional variability differences in environmental factors on fisheries production is briefly discussed.Investigaciones recientes demuestran que las descargas fluviales y los vientos son factores ambientales clave para la productividad de las poblaciones explotadas en zonas subtropicales y tropicales, mientras que en mares fríos la temperatura del agua constituye el factor ambiental más importante para la productividad pesquera. Este estudio compara las diferencias geográficas en la variabilidad temporal de tres factores físicos (temperatura del agua, aportes fluviales y velocidad del viento) en un mar subtropical (Mediterráneo) y dos mares fríos (Mar del Norte y Báltico). La variabilidad temporal de la temperatura del agua es mayor en los dos mares fríos que en el subtropical. Así mismo, los ríos que desembocan en el Mediterráneo presentan mayor variabilidad temporal en cuanto a los aportes fluviales que los ríos que desembocan en el Mar del Norte y el mar Báltico. La variabilidad temporal en el índice de mezcla del viento (velocidad del viento al cubo) es distinta según la zona que se considere, y es máxima en la estación de Cap Béar (Mediterráneo noroccidental). Finalmente, se discuten los efectos de esta variabilidad ambiental geográfica sobre las poblaciones explotadas.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Direct Operando Visualization of Metal Support Interactions Induced by Hydrogen Spillover During CO2 Hydrogenation

The understanding of catalyst active sites is a fundamental challenge for the future rational design of optimized and bespoke catalysts. For instance, the partial reduction of Ce4+ surface sites to Ce3+ and the formation of oxygen vacancies are critical for CO2 hydrogenation, CO oxidation, and the water gas shift reaction. Furthermore, metal nanoparticles, the reducible support, and metal support interactions are prone to evolve under reaction conditions; therefore a catalyst structure must be characterized under operando conditions to identify active states and deduce structure-activity relationships. In the present work, temperature-induced morphological and chemical changes in Ni nanoparticle-decorated mesoporous CeO2 by means of in situ quantitative multimode electron tomography and in situ heating electron energy loss spectroscopy, respectively, are investigated. Moreover, operando electron energy loss spectroscopy is employed using a windowed gas cell and reveals the role of Ni-induced hydrogen spillover on active Ce3+ site formation and enhancement of the overall catalytic performance

Biology and population dynamics of by-catch species of the bottom trawl fishery in the western Mediterranean

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Effectiveness and safety of a microcrystalline tyrosine‐adjuvanted <i>Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus</i> allergoid immunotherapy in adult patients with allergic asthma and rhinitis: A real‐life prospective observational study

Introduction: Although clinical trials have shown the efficacy and safety of allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) in the treatment of allergic asthma, there is a need for real-life studies. We aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of a microcrystalline tyrosine-adjuvanted Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergoid (Acarovac Plus (R)) in patients with house dust mite (HDM)-induced allergic asthma in a real-life study. Methods: A subanalysis of a multicenter, prospective, observational, real-life study. Patients with rhinitis and allergic asthma caused by HDMs were assessed before AIT with Acarovac Plus (R) and at 6 and 12 months after this treatment. Assessment parameters were percentage of days with asthma symptoms, percentage of days on asthma medication, classification of asthma according to Spanish guidelines for the management of asthma, asthma-related quality of life (quality of life in adults with asthma questionnaire [QLAAQ]), perception of symptoms (visual analog scale [VAS]), and treatment satisfaction (treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication [TSQM]). Safety was assessed by the number and severity of adverse reactions. Results: This subanalysis included 55 patients. Treatment with Acarovac Plus (R) showed significant differences in the analyzed variables when the baseline visit was compared with the 12-month visit: reduction of the mean (SD) percentage of days with asthma symptoms (23.9 [9.2] vs. 5.1 [12.8]; p = .002), of the mean [SD] percentage of days on asthma medication (67.6 [42.9] vs. 45.1 [46.8]; p = .002), and of the percentage of patients with persistent asthma (78.2% vs. 38.9%; p = .009). Acarovac Plus (R) significantly improved asthma-related quality of life, as shown by a decrease of 1.39 points in QLAAQ score at 12 months (p < .001), and in the subjective perception of symptoms on the VAS (-3.50, p < .0001). Patients showed high treatment satisfaction according to the TSQM, and it was well tolerated. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: Acarovac Plus (R) was effective and safe for the treatment of patients with HDM-induced allergic asthma in a real-life study

Organización espontánea de puntos cuánticos de InSb crecidos por ALMBE sobre substratos de InP

El crecimiento autoorganizado de puntos cuánticos de InSb sobre substratos de InP mediante epitaxia de haces moleculares ha sido caracterizado mediante microscopía electrónica de transmisión y microscopía de fuerzas atómicas a fin de estudiar la morfología y establecer el mecanismo de relajación de las estructuras. Medidas de difracción de electrones de alta energía durante el crecimiento de las muestras indican una transición en el modo de crecimiento de bidimensional a tridimensional a partir de un espesor total equivalente depositado de 1.1 monocapas atómicas de InSb. Los puntos cuánticos tienen en general, una buena calidad cristalina así como una distribución superficial homogénea, pero una alta anisotropía en las dimensiones entre las direcciones [110] y [110]. Así mismo, se encuentra una rugosidad superficial, también afectada de un alto grado de anisotropía, siendo las crestas y los valles paralelos a la dirección de elongación de las islas. Las imágenes de microscopía electrónica revelan un facetado de las estructuras según planos (001) que las limitan por la parte superior y planos {111}, {113} y {114}, que las limitan lateralmente. Las tensiones son eficazmente relajadas por la presencia de una red de dislocaciones situada en la interficie InSb/InP