Age and growth of the highly exploited narrownose smooth-hound (Mustelus schmitti) (Pisces: Elasmobranchii)

The narrownose smoothhound (Mustelus schmitti) is the most exploited elasmobranch of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay and is considered endangered (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). Providing information on age and growth can improve efforts for conservation of this species. Therefore, our objective was to provide accurate estimates of the age structure and growth parameters for narrownose smooth-hound from Anegada Bay, an important shark nursery area in Argentina. In vertebrae of narrownose smooth-hound, we observed a pattern of alternating opaque and translucent bands and a yearly periodicity in the deposition of this pattern. Ages determined from vertebral band counts ranged from 0 to 11 years. Calculated longevity and total natural mortality rates were 20.87 years and 0.19/year for females and 12.24 years and 0.26/year for males, respectively. This species reached a size of approximately 400 mm in total length in the initial year of growth, and the age at first maturity was 7.61 years for females and 6.79 years for males. The slow growth and late age at maturity of the narrownose smoothhound indicate a need for additional conservation measures to rebuild the population and achieve a sustainable fishery in the 3 countries in which it is distributed.Fil: Molina, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Blasina, Gabriela Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Cazorla, Andrea Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentin

Tripod-shaped penta (p-phenylene)s for the functionalization of silicon surfaces

In order to obtain nanostructured thin films to be used in biosensor devices, several chemical functionalization methods have been developed, such as Click chemistry or Suzuki carbon-carbon coupling reactions on surfaces.1 With the aim to control the orientation and spacing between grafted functional groups on a surface, tripodal oligo (p-phenylene)s have become the ideal anisotropic adsorbates due to their shape-persistent and self-standing characteristics.2 Here we report the synthesis and characterization of several tripod-shaped oligo(p-phenylene)s molecules with legs composed of five phenylene units, compounds 1, 2 and 3. In these structures, each leg is end-capped with an NH-Boc, NH2 and N3 group, respectively. The functional arm contains an acetylene group. The presented synthesis has as key step the Pd-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. In particular, a iodine derivative from the silicon core molecule reacts with the appropriate tetra(p-phenylene) boron derivative, thus generating the final tripod-shaped structure. The azide end-capped leg in 3 is specifically designed for its covalent incorporation on alkynyl terminated silicon surfaces by an easy and reproducible way. As a preliminary study, we present the alkynyl-functionalized silicon wafers nanostructuration with tripod 3 through the cooper catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) click reaction.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Trends in shark bycatch research: current status and research needs

Over the last few decades, much effort has been devoted towards quantifying and reducing bycatch in marine fisheries. Of late, there has been a particular focus on sharks given that bycatch is a frequently listed threat for sharks on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. However, currently there are no quantitative reviews or syntheses that explore the issue of shark bycatch globally which is problematic given that such a synthesis could inform conservation actions and identify pressing research gaps. We performed a qualitative and quantitative survey of the peer-reviewed literature to characterize trends in shark bycatch research with a particular goal of identifying research needs and opportunities. Using a structured literature review we identified 103 papers that met our search criteria, with the first one published in 1993. Early research efforts focused on documenting the scope of bycatch (i.e., determining that sharks were indeed captured as bycatch), but more recently there have been increased efforts devoted to developing and evaluating bycatch reduction strategies for sharks. Research activity was most common in the North Atlantic (~ 40% of the total articles analysed) with comparatively less research in other areas such as the Indo-Pacific region where shark bycatch is regarded as particularly common and problematic. Most studies were observational with comparatively fewer experimental and modeling studies, and even fewer that combined research approaches. Gear modifications (e.g., hook size and type for long lines, net size and mesh design for nets) were the most commonly evaluated strategy for reducing shark bycatch; however, development and use of techniques like repellents, or seasonal area closures, or a combination of strategies, offer interesting possibilities that require further study. In addition, although many sharks are discarded, little is known about post-release survival or sub-lethal consequences of fisheries interactions, or evaluations of different fish handling strategies, making it difficult to quantify the true cost of bycatch or to recommend handling strategies to fishers. Although there are some inherent challenges with developing and testing shark bycatch reduction strategies, there is an urgent need to do so and this would be best achieved through interdisciplinary research that spans field, laboratory, and modeling realms.Fil: Molina, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Cooke, Steven J.. Carleton University; Canad

Quality of Institutions, Technological Progress, and Pollution Havens in Latin America. An Analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis

A set of 17-year panel data (1996–2013) across a representative sample from eighteen Latin American countries is used to respond four research questions: Did Latin American Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions prove the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis? Did the quality of institutions play a compensating role for income on environmental stress? Did technological progress help decouple income from environmental stress? Has the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) been proven? In order to answer the research questions, the paper expands the traditional EKC approach by including an exclusive quality analysis of institutions, technological progress, and PHH as part of the model. This innovation is developed considering the most recent literature about EKC as a starting point. Major findings show that the relationship between income and GHG emissions is adjusted to the traditional EKC hypothesis for the analyzed period. They also show that the quality of institutions and technological progress improve environmental sustainability. However, the variables, Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade, provide a negative answer to the fourth question. The main methodological contribution of this paper is to use a threefold extended classic EKC model to conduct the feasible generalized least squares method. The paper also contributes to the growing body of PHH literature.Junta de Andalucía proyecto SEJ-132Cátedra de Economía de la Energía y del MedioUniversidad Autónoma de Chil

Guía Técnica Práctica: Diseño de Sistemas Software + Implementación e Implantación de Sistemas Software

Este documento se plantea como una guía técnica para la realización de las prácticas y el proyecto de las asignaturas de la especialidad de Ingeniería del Software en el Grado en Ingeniería Informática y en el segundo ciclo de Ingeniería Informática. Esta guía es válida para, entre otras, las siguientes asignaturas: • Diseño de Sistemas Software (DSS) • Ingeniería Web (IW) • Implementación e Implantación de Sistemas Software (IISS)Guía técnica para la realización de las prácticas y el proyecto de las asignaturas de la especialidad de Ingeniería del Software en el Grado en Ingeniería Informática y en el segundo ciclo de Ingeniería Informátic

Technical and Regulatory Exigencies for Grid Connection of Wind Generation

Pollution problems such as the greenhouse effect as well as the high value and volatility of fuel prices have forced and accelerated the development and use of renewable energy sources. In the three last decades, the level of penetration of renewable energy sources has undergone an important growth in several countries, mainly in the USA and Europe, where levels of 20% have been reached. Main technologies of renewable energies include wind, hydraulic, solar (photovoltaic and thermal), biofuels (liquid biodiesel, biomass, biogas), and geothermal energy. Within this great variety of alternative energy sources, wind energy has experienced a fast growth due to several advantages, such as costs, feasibility, abundance of wind resources, maturity of the technology and shorter construction times (Ackermann, 2005). This trend is expected to be increased even more in the near future, sustained mainly by the cost competitiveness of wind power technology and the development of new power electronics technologies, new circuit topologies and control strategies (Guerrero et al., 2010). However, there are some disadvantages for wind energy, as wind generation is uncontrollably variable because of the intermittency of the primary resource, i.e. the wind. Another important disadvantage is that the best places to install a wind farm, due to the certainty and intensities of suitable wind, are located in remote areas. This aspect requires of additional infrastructure to convey the generated power to the demand centres. Unfortunately, in several countries the regulatory aspect does not follow this fast growth of wind possibilities. Many countries do not have specific rules for wind generators and others do not make the necessary operating studies before installing a wind farm (Heier, 2006). Power system operators must consider the availability of these power plants which are not dispatchable and are not accessible all the time. Today, developing countries, such as Argentina, are subjected to an analogous situation with wind energy, having perhaps one of the best sources of such energy around the world. Nowadays, there are several operative wind farms and others in stage of building and planning. Similar to other countries, in Argentina there is a lack of regulatory aspects related to this topic (Labriola, 2007). This chapter thoroughly presents a revision of wind generation, including the following sections. In the first part, a brief history of the wind energy developments is presented. Following, some remarks related to the modern wind energy systems are made. Then, a survey of modern structures of wind turbines is carried out, including towers and foundations, rotor, nacelle with drive train and other equipment, control systems, etc. Subsequently, major wind turbine concepts related to fixed and variable speed operation and control modes are described. Eventually, technical and regulatory exigencies for the integration of wind generation into the electrical grid are discussed in detail, including a study of selected countries grid codes.Fil: Molina, Marcelo Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Energía Eléctrica; ArgentinaFil: Gimenez Alvarez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Ingeniería Electromecánica; Argentin

Empirical likelihood based inference for fixed effects varying coefficient

ABSTRACT: In this paper local empirical likelihood-based inference for non-parametric varying coefficient panel data models with fixed effects is investigated. First, we show that the naive empirical likelihood ratio is asymptotically standard chi-squared when undersmoothing is employed. The ratio is self-scale invariant and the plug-in estimate of the limiting variance is not needed. Second, mean-corrected and residual-adjusted empirical likelihood ratios are proposed. The main interest of these techniques is that without undersmoothing, both also have standard chi-squared limit distributions. As a by product, we propose also two empirical maximum likelihood estimators of the varying coefficient models and their derivatives. We also obtain the asymptotic distribution of these estimators. Furthermore, a non parametric version of the Wilk?s theorem is derived. To show the feasibility of the technique and to analyse its small sample properties, using empirical likelihood-based inference we implement a Monte Carlo simulation exercise and we also illustrated the proposed technique in an empirical analysis about the production efficiency of the European Union?s companies

Sample Movement Optimisation for Uniform Heating in Microwave Heating Ovens

A technique for improving the uniformity of heating patterns of dielectric samples in a multimode cavity is presented based on a strategic movement of the sample inside the microwave applicator. Different optimisation algorithms are compared to determine the best microwave irradiation period for each sample position. A new optimisation procedure that minimizes electric field variance is also presented and assessed