Interactions of social, terrestrial, and marine sub-systems in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Galapagos is often cited as an example of the conflicts that are emerging between resource conservation and economic development in island ecosystems, as the pressures associated with tourism threaten nature, including the iconic and emblematic species, unique terrestrial landscapes, and special marine environments. In this paper, two projects are described that rely upon dynamic systems models and agent-based models to examine human–environment interactions. We use a theoretical context rooted in complexity theory to guide the development of our models that are linked to social–ecological dynamics. The goal of this paper is to describe key elements, relationships, and processes to inform and enhance our understanding of human–environment interactions in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. By formalizing our knowledge of how systems operate and the manner in which key elements are linked in coupled human–natural systems, we specify rules, relationships, and rates of exchange between social and ecological features derived through statistical functions and/or functions specified in theory or practice. The processes described in our models also have practical applications in that they emphasize how political policies generate different human responses and model outcomes, many detrimental to the social–ecological sustainability of the Galapagos Islands

Characterization and Modeling Agricultural and Forest Trajectories in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon: Spatial Heterogeneity, Socioeconomic Drivers and Spatial Simulations

This research shows that agricultural frontier regions are heterogeneous and complex entities. This dissertation links four interconnected questions that seek to generate new insights into the processes of land use and land cover change in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon (NEA). The research uses household survey data collected in the study area in 1990 and 1999 and a set of classified Landsat images for 1973, 1986, 1999, 1996, and 2002. This study, first, analyzes the composition and spatial configuration of the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) trajectories in the NEA. Land trajectories are built using image algebra and stratified by deforestation stage and census sector. The analysis of LULC trajectories has suggested a core and periphery pattern of transitions in the NEA and shows the complexity of land changes in the region. Second, this research characterizes secondary forest succession, its extent and the socioeconomic, demographic, and biophysical factors that control forest generation. The analysis, using logistic regression, shows how improvements in accessibility and off-farm employment contribute positively to forest regeneration. Third, this research analyzes the spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence of the relationships between socioeconomic, demographic, and biophysical drivers and LULC. The intent of this question is to find the spatial non-stationarity of the relationships between factors and LULC change using Geographically Weighted Regression and Spatial Lag Models. There is also an emphasis on new spatial representations of the parameters resulting from the regression analysis. This research component determined that the intensity of the drivers of LULC change is heterogeneous across space. Four, this research develops a cellular automata model that simulates LULC trajectories using pixels, neighborhoods, and spatial regimes that interact to produce broad LULC patterns. LULC patterns emerge from rules that control interactions among cells, cell neighborhoods and other spatial regimes created using GWR models. The aim of this research is to clarify the spatial and temporal nature of the relationship between population and land change and to predict positive and negative feedbacks between social, geographical, and biophysical factors that have implications for environmental management and policy

Deforestación en el Norte de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana: del patrón al proceso

Este artículo trata primero de definir deforestación y explora brevemente algunos acercamientos teóricos que explican sus causas, Luego usa al Nororiente Ecuatoriano para explicar las complejidades de este proceso, Finalmente, hace una reflexión para los que no vivimos dentro de la selva Amazónica desde la teoría de sistemas dinámicos,Este artículo trata primero de definir deforestación y explora brevemente algunos acercamientos teóricos que explican sus causas, Luego usa al Nororiente Ecuatoriano para explicar las complejidades de este proceso, Finalmente, hace una reflexión para los que no vivimos dentro de la selva Amazónica desde la teoría de sistemas dinámicos

Sintomatologia ansiosa e depressiva em famílias com filhos adolescentes: Qual o papel da diferenciação do self dos pais?

A literatura tem realçado o impacto da história familiar de psicopatologia no desenvolvimento de perturbações emocionais nas gerações mais novas e a associação entre o nível de diferenciação do self e diversos quadros clínicos (e.g., ansiosos e depressivos). Com recurso a um desenho quantitativo transversal e a uma amostra de 104 tríades familiares (mãe, pai e filho/a adolescente), o presente estudo pretende analisar: a associação entre a sintomatologia depressiva e ansiosa de mães e pais e filhos/as adolescentes; e o papel mediador da diferenciação do self das mães e dos pais na relação entre a sintomatologia depressiva e ansiosa de mães e de pais e a sintomatologia depressiva e ansiosa dos/as filhos/as adolescentes. Os resultados mostram que: a sintomatologia depressiva e ansiosa do pai e da mãe são preditoras do nível de diferenciação do self do pai e da mãe; a relação entre a sintomatologia depressiva da mãe e dos/as filhos/as é mediada pela diferenciação do self da mãe; e a sintomatologia ansiosa da mãe é preditora da sintomatologia ansiosa dos/as filhos/as. Apesar de os resultados sugerirem que a mãe tenha também um papel central na transmissão de adversidade aos filhos, apontam para que a sintomatologia ansiosa e depressiva de pais e filhos se associem de formas diferentes. Este estudo tem implicações para a prática clínica e para a literatura na área da psicologia clínica e psicologia da família, ao relevar o impacto da sintomatologia da mãe e do seu nível de diferenciação do self no desenvolvimento de psicopatologia na adolescência.The literature has highlighted the impact of the family psychopathology history on the development of psychopathology in the younger generations and the association between the level of self differentiation and various clinical conditions (e.g., anxiety and depression). Using a quantitative cross-sectional design and a sample of 104 family triads (mother, father and adolescent child), the present study aims to analyze: the association between depressive and anxious symptomatology of mothers and fathers and adolescent children; and the mediating role of the self-differentiation of mothers and fathers in the relationship between the depressive and anxious symptomatology of mothers and fathers and the depressive and anxious symptomatology of the adolescent children. The results show that: the depressive and anxious symptomatology of the father and the mother are predictors of the level of differentiation of the self of the father and the mother; the relationship between the depressive symptomatology of the mother and the child is mediated by the differentiation of the mother's self; and the anxious symptomatology of the mother is a predictor of the anxious symptomatology of the child. Although the results suggest that the mother also has a central role in the transmission of adversity to the children, they point out that the anxious and depressive symptomatology of parents and children associate in different ways. This study has implications for clinical practice and for literature in clinical psychology and family psychology, by highlighting the impact of the mother's symptomatology and mothers’ level of self differentiation in the development of psychopathology in adolescence.Orientação: Ana Priost

Asymptotically anti-de Sitter wormholes

Starting with a procedure for dealing with general asymptotic behaviors, we construct a quantum theory for asymptotically anti-de Sitter wormholes. We follow both the path integral formalism and the algebraic quantization program proposed by Ashtekar. By adding suitable surface terms, the Euclidean action of the asymptoically anti-de Sitter wormholes can be seen to be finite and gauge invariant. This action determines an appropriate variational problem for wormholes. We also obtain the wormhole wave functions of the gravitational model and show that all the physical states of the quantum theory are superpositions of wormhole states.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 3.0, LaTeX 2.0

CHAPTER 7: GRAVITY

Peer reviewe

Land use change on household farms in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Design and implementation of an agent-based model

This paper describes the design and implementation of an Agent-Based Model (ABM) used to simulate land use change on household farms in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon (NEA). The ABM simulates decision-making processes at the household level that is examined through a longitudinal, socio-economic and demographic survey that was conducted in 1990 and 1999. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used to establish spatial relationships between farms and their environment, while classified Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery is used to set initial land use/land cover conditions for the spatial simulation, assess from-to land use/land cover change patterns, and describe trajectories of land use change at the farm and landscape levels. Results from prior studies in the NEA provide insights into the key social and ecological variables, describe human behavioral functions, and examine population-environment interactions that are linked to deforestation and agricultural extensification, population migration, and demographic change. Within the architecture of the model, agents are classified as active or passive. The model comprises four modules, i.e., initialization, demography, agriculture, and migration that operate individually, but are linked through key household processes. The main outputs of the model include a spatially-explicit representation of the land use/land cover on survey and non-survey farms and at the landscape level for each annual time-step, as well as simulated socio-economic and demographic characteristics of households and communities. The work describes the design and implementation of the model and how population-environment interactions can be addressed in a frontier setting. The paper contributes to land change science by examining important pattern-process relations, advocating a spatial modeling approach that is capable of synthesizing fundamental relationships at the farm level, and links people and environment in complex ways

Does electro-peroxonation improve performance of electro-ozonation?

This work focuses on the comparison of the degradation and mineralization of clopyralid with electrochemically produced hydrogen peroxide (electro-H2O2), ozone (electro-ozonation) and their mixture (electro-peroxone) and points out important differences among the performance of the oxidation technologies. Co-existence of electrochemically produced hydrogen peroxide and ozone decreases the concentration of ozone and increases the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the bulk, because of the formation and recombination of hydroxyl radicals. Oxidation of clopyralid and mineralization of the wastewater is less efficient with hydrogen peroxide and more efficient with ozone. Peroxone shows an intermediate performance which can be related with the oxidant’s speciation produced in the wastewater. Different behavior between in situ electrochemically produced ozone and ozone dosed, indicates activation of ozone in the electrolyte during the electro-ozonation process. Results highlights the good performance of the simple electro-ozonation that overcomes other EAOPs and indicates than combination of powerful oxidants in this case does not result in the expected synergism but in antagonistic responses.Este trabajo se centra en la comparación de la degradación y mineralización de la clopiralida con peróxido de hidrógeno producido electroquímicamente (electro-H 2 O 2 ), ozono (electro-ozonización) y su mezcla (electro-peroxona) y señala diferencias importantes entre el rendimiento de Las tecnologías de oxidación. La coexistencia de peróxido de hidrógeno y ozono producidos electroquímicamente disminuye la concentración de ozono y aumenta la concentración de peróxido de hidrógeno a granel, debido a la formación y recombinación de radicales hidroxilo.. La oxidación de clopiralida y la mineralización de las aguas residuales es menos eficiente con peróxido de hidrógeno y más eficiente con ozono. La peroxona muestra un comportamiento intermedio que se puede relacionar con la especiación del oxidante producido en las aguas residuales. El diferente comportamiento entre el ozono producido electroquímicamente in situ y el ozono dosificado, indica la activación del ozono en el electrolito durante el proceso de electro-ozonización. Los resultados destacan el buen desempeño de la electro-ozonización simple que supera a otros EAOP e indica que la combinación de potentes oxidantes en este caso no da como resultado el sinergismo esperado sino respuestas antagónicas

Cohort profile: the Hortega Study for the evaluation of non-traditional risk factors of cardiometabolic and other chronic diseases in a general population from Spain.

PURPOSE: The Hortega Study is a prospective study, which investigates novel determinants of selected chronic conditions with an emphasis on cardiovascular health in a representative sample of a general population from Spain. PARTICIPANTS: In 1997, a mailed survey was sent to a random selection of public health system beneficiaries assigned to the University Hospital Rio Hortega's catchment area in Valladolid (Spain) (n=11 423, phase I), followed by a pilot examination in 1999-2000 of 495 phase I participants (phase II). In 2001-2003, the examination of 1502 individuals constituted the Hortega Study baseline examination visit (phase III, mean age 48.7 years, 49% men, 17% with obesity, 27% current smokers). Follow-up of phase III participants (also termed Hortega Follow-up Study) was obtained as of 30 November 2015 through review of health records (9.5% of participants without follow-up information). FINDINGS TO DATE: The Hortega Study integrates baseline information of traditional and non-traditional factors (metabolomic including lipidomic and oxidative stress metabolites, genetic variants and environmental factors, such as metals), with 14 years of follow-up for the assessment of mortality and incidence of chronic diseases. Preliminary analysis of time to event data shows that well-known cardiovascular risk factors are associated with cardiovascular incidence rates, which add robustness to our cohort. FUTURE PLANS: In 2020, we will review updated health and mortality records of this ongoing cohort for a 5-year follow-up extension. We will also re-examine elder survivors to evaluate specific aspects of ageing and conduct geolocation to study additional environmental exposures. Stored biological specimens are available for analysis of new biomarkers. The Hortega Study will, thus, enable the identification of novel factors based on time to event data, potentially contributing to the prevention and control of chronic diseases in ageing populations

Contrasting Colonist and Indigenous Impacts on Amazonian Forests: Colonist versus Indigenous Deforestation

To examine differences in land use and environmental impacts between colonist and indigenous populations in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon, we combined data from household surveys and remotely sensed imagery that was collected from 778 colonist households in 64 colonization sectors, and 499 households from five indigenous groups in 36 communities. Overall, measures of deforestation and forest fragmentation were significantly greater for colonists than indigenous peoples. On average, colonist households had approximately double the area in agriculture and cash crops and 5.5 times the area in pasture as indigenous households. Nevertheless, substantial variation in land-use patterns existed among the five indigenous groups in measures such as cattle ownership and use of hired agricultural labor. These findings support the potential conservation value of indigenous lands while cautioning against uniform policies that homogenize indigenous ethnic groups