The bare head of the Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) fulfills a thermoregulatory function

[Background] Dark pigments provide animals with several adaptive benefits such as protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation and mechanical abrasion, but may also impose several constraints like a high absorbance of solar radiation. Endotherms, with relatively constant and high body temperatures, may be especially prone to thermoregulatory limitations if dark coloured and inhabiting hot environments. It is therefore expected that adaptations have specifically evolved because of these limitations. Bare, highly vascularised head skin may have evolved in birds with dark plumage from hot geographical regions because of favouring heat dissipation. Using the Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) as a model species, we measured the surface temperature (Tsurf) of the head, the bill and the black feathered body of 11 birds along ambient temperatures (Ta) ranging from 21 to 42.5 °C employing thermal imaging.[Results] While Tsurf of the bill and the feathered body was only slightly above Ta, head Tsurf was considerably higher, by up to 12 °C. Estimated values of heat loss followed similar variations. We also found that the red colour intensity of the head of ibises increased with head Tsurf, suggesting that birds are capable of controlling blood flow and the thermoregulatory function of the head.[Conclusions] These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bare skin has evolved in dark pigmented birds inhabiting hot environments because of their ability to dissipate heat.IG was supported by a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2012-10237) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).Peer reviewe

Globalization and E-Commerce IV: Environment and Policy in Mexico

This article examines Mexico as one of the countries in Latin America where e-commerce expanded the most, second only to Brazil, and where a digital economy is emerging as a result of a complex set of factors. Key environmental factors that exert an important influence on e-commerce diffusion include the performance of the economy, the sectoral and business structure of the economy, the size of the population, and the distribution of national income. It is hypothesized in this paper that two critical factors that determine the pace, quality and orientation of e-commerce are: 1. the work of private organizations devoted to promoting e-commerce practices, and 2. the political will the Mexican government demonstrated in recent years to improve the country\u27s telecommunications infrastructure. These two factors reinforce one another in the sense that promoting organizations operates by means of specialized working groups whose membership includes representatives from the federal government. Jointly, these institutions create a favorable environment and the required physical conditions for the development of both business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce transactions

Unpacking the Drivers of LGBT+ Legislation

This paper stems from the hypothesis that there are various key factors rooted in economic, political, and social grounds which actively influence and determine the adoption and evolution of LGBT+ rights in the legal framework of any country. The goal of this research is to analyze these factors and understand how they channel the LGBT+ legislation in our present world. Assuming there is an asymmetry in this application and by extension in LGBT+ individuals' human rights, which are often ignored if not deprived in many parts of the world, this study seeks to understand the reasons behind that asymmetry. Based on a sample of 127 countries, a correlation analysis and a Panel data model were developed to analyze the real impact of these factors

Towards an ontology modeling tool. A validation in software engineering scenarios.

Ontology creation and management related processes are very important to define and develop semantic services. Ontology Engineering is the research field that provides the mechanisms to manage the life cycle of the ontologies. However, the process of building ontologies can be tedious and sometimes exhaustive. OWL VisMod is a tool designed for developing ontological engineering based on visual analytics concep tual modeling for OWL ontologies life cycle management, supporting both creation and understanding tasks. This paper is devoted to evaluate OWL VisMod through a set of defined tasks. The same tasks also will be done with the most known tool in Ontology Engineering, Protégé, in order to compare the obtained results and be able to know how is OWL VisMod perceived for the expert users. The comparison shows that both tools have similar acceptation scores, but OWL VisMod presents better feelings regard ing user’s perception tasks due to the visual analytics influence

Development Cooperation and Dependency: An Analysis of Brazilian-Spanish Cooperation in Latin America Between 2010 and 2018

Based on analysis of Brazilian-Spanish cooperation in Latin America, this article aims to contribute to the discussion on whether South-South Cooperation (SSC) represents an alternative model with specific and differentiated objectives, or if it largely reproduces the constraints and interests traditionally associated with the North-South model, but with new institutions and actors. We start by analysing the main criticisms levelled at cooperation in the literature, emphasising the identification, review and comparison of the mechanisms of domination and dependency that derive from the bilateral and multilateral practices of traditional development cooperation. We then construct a synthetic dependency index to measure the ability of Spain and Brazil - as representative cases of North-South Cooperation (NSC) and SSC with Latin America - to influence the foreign trade, investment and foreign policy decisions of aid recipients, and to empirically contrast the lower level of verticality that much of the available literature assumes about SSC schemes. The empirical analysis suggests significant differences between NSC and SSC in terms of their ability to reproduce dependency patterns and validate the discourse that tends to identify the latter as an alternative cooperation model

Soil parameters and bioclimatic characteristics affecting essential oil composition of leaves of Pistacia lentiscus L. from València (Spain)

[EN] The variability of the soils found in an area together with the diversity of the bioclimatic parameters will affect the chemical profile of plant species, in our case Pistacia lentiscus L. The aim of this work is to analyse the bioclimatic characteristics and soil parameters affecting the essential oil (EO) composition of the leaves of the Pistacia lentiscus L. growing in València (Spain). The EO compositions of dried leaves of Pistacia lentiscus L. from five sampling sites with noticeable differences in soil and climate features were analysed by GC(MS) and GD(FID). The main bioclimatic and soil parameters were also determined in order to relate them to oil composition. ¿-pinene (2.8-39.2%), myrcene (0.6-59.3%), ß-phellandrene (0.0-42.8%), germacrene-D (3.9-20.4%) and terpinen-4-ol (0.2-19.0%) were found to be the major compounds showing a high variability. The five sampling sites presented well-defined bioclimatic and edaphic characteristics that could be related to specific EO profiles. The results suggested that the EO composition of P. lentiscus L. depends more on the edaphic factors interacting with bioclimate conditions than on the geographical origin itself. Some general trends could be established based on the results: the Calcaric Arenosol (Saler) with a high evapotranspiration index was associated with a high sesquiterpenic fraction, (germacrene-D and ß-caryophyllene, mainly). The Luvisol (Borrell and L¿Ull), with high amounts of ¿ + ß-pinene, were found to be related to sub-humid bioclimatic conditions and clayey and fertile soils (high CEC and OM levels). This last requirement was also observed to be related to the myrcene content, but with drier climatic conditions and calcareous soils (Haplic Calcisol) with high level of carbonates and active lime (Lliria). The rest of hydrocarbon monoterpene and oxygenated monoterpene (terpinen-4-ol, mainly) fractions could be related to a dry climate and non-calcareous and low fertility soils (Eutric Regosol, Segart). Given the most suitable composition related to specific and useful biological activities, new research of controlled environmental factors (soil features and bioclimatic conditions) should be conducted in order to define the best conditions to manage industrial crops of P. lentiscus L.Llinares Palacios, JV.; Llorens Molina, JA.; Mulet, J.; Vacas, S. (2021). Soil parameters and bioclimatic characteristics affecting essential oil composition of leaves of Pistacia lentiscus L. from València (Spain). Spanish Journal of Soil Science. 11(1):72-87. https://doi.org/10.3232/SJSS.2021.V11.N1.06S728711

La reforma de la economía cubana. Evaluación de su potencial impacto en el crecimiento económico

El presente artículo analiza el alcance de las transformaciones propuestas en el VI Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC), la forma en que éstas pueden contribuir al crecimiento económico y a la superación de las principales restricciones de la economía cubana, así como aquellos aspectos que, a juicio del autor, permitirían estimular la eficiencia del modelo, pero que no han sido incluidos en la agenda del Congreso. Dicho análisis parte de la hipótesis de que el crecimiento económico cubano se encuentra restringido por la escasez de divisas y por un marco regulatorio excesivamente centralizado, fundamentada en los trabajos teóricos y empíricos que han abordado el tema del crecimiento, la revisión de la bibliografía que analiza la economía cubana durante las últimas décadas y el trabajo de campo llevado a cabo por el autor entre septiembre del 2010 y mayo del 2011

PYMES no estatales socialistas: análisis para el caso cubano

El presente artículo se propone contribuir al debate respecto a la estructura de la propiedad de los medios de producción en una economía socialista como la cubana; mediante la formulación y análisis de dos cuestiones fundamentales: en primer lugar, evaluar si puede o no el desarrollo de las PYMES paliar parte de los problemas estructurales que afectan a la economía cubana en la actualidad. En cuyo caso, se haría necesario plantear y profundizar sobre las características que deberían presentar dichas PYMES para garantizar su compatibilidad y coherencia con el modelo socialista

Impact of Noah-LSM Parameterizations on WRF Mesoscale Simulations: Case Study of Prevailing Summer Atmospheric Conditions over a Typical Semi-Arid Region in Eastern Spain

The current study evaluates the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to forecast surface energy fluxes over a region in Eastern Spain. Focusing on the sensitivity of the model to Land Surface Model (LSM) parameterizations, we compare the simulations provided by the original Noah LSM and the Noah LSM with multiple physics options (Noah-MP). Furthermore, we assess the WRF sensitivity to different Noah-MP physics schemes, namely the calculation of canopy stomatal resistance (OPT_CRS), the soil moisture factor for stomatal resistance (OPT_BTR), and the surface layer drag coefficient (OPT_SFC). It has been found that these physics options strongly affect the energy partitioning at the land surface in short-time scale simulations. Aside from in situ observations, we use the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) sensor to assess the Land Surface Temperature (LST) field simulated by WRF. Regarding multiple options in Noah-MP, WRF has been configured using three distinct soil moisture factors to control stomatal resistance (β factor) available in Noah-MP (Noah, CLM, and SSiB-types), two canopy stomatal resistance (Ball–Berry and Jarvis), and two options for surface layer drag coefficients (Monin–Obukhov and Chen97 scheme). Considering the β factor schemes, CLM and SSiB-type β factors simulate very low values of the latent heat flux while increasing the sensible heat flux. This result has been obtained independently of the canopy stomatal resistance scheme used. Additionally, the surface skin temperature simulated by Noah-MP is colder than that obtained by the original Noah LSM. This result is also highlighted when the simulated surface skin temperature is compared to the MSG-SEVIRI LST product. The largest differences between the satellite data and the mesoscale simulations are produced using the Noah-MP configurations run with the Monin–Obukhov parameterization for surface layer drag coefficients. In contrast, the Chen97 scheme shows larger surface skin temperatures than Monin–Obukhov, but at the expense of a decrease in the simulated sensible heat fluxes. In this regard, the ground heat flux and the net radiation play a key role in the simulation results.This research was funded by the Assistance Programmes of the University of Alicante “Programa de Redes-I3CE de calidad, innovación e investigación en docencia universitaria. Convocatoria 2018–2019. Alicante: Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE) de la Universidad de Alicante. Ref: [4334].” and “Programa de Redes-I3CE de calidad, innovación e investigación en docencia universitaria. Convocatoria 2020-21. Alicante: Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE) de la Universidad de Alicante. Ref: [5150].” as well as by Research Group VIGROB-116 (University of Alicante) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the project PID2020-118797RB-I00/AEI