The cartujano stock of the spanish horse in America

The Cartujano stock of the Spanish horse is eumetric, mesomorphous, constitutionally compact and with subconvex profile. It shows a bright and energic aspect, with appreciable elevations and extensions. Its constitutional type is orthostenic or equanimous, its character is noble and docile. It is very interesting for the breaking in high school. This stock has its origin in the farm created by the Cartujanos monks from Jerez de la Frontera, in 1492. Today it can be find in Colombia on Mr. Francisco León Arboleda’s farm; in Costa Rica included in the farms of Mr. Mariano Guardia and Mr. Jorge Herrera, among others. Also in Cuba bought by Mr. Fidel Castro; in E.E.U.U. included in the farms of Mr. Currier, Mr. Broston, Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Garmendia and Mr. Alcalde, among others. In Mexico the most important breeders are Mr. Miguel Alemán, Mr. Enrique Alvarez and Mr. Plácido Arango. We also find this stock in other countries such as Nicaragua, Perú, Venezuela, etc. All that shows its important genetic contribution to the Spanish Breed horse in America.La estirpe Cartujana del Caballo Español es eumétrica, mesomorfa, constitucionalmente compacta y de perfil subconvexo. Esto le da un aspecto elegante y enérgico, con una apreciable elevación y extensión. Su tipo constitucional es ortosténico ó equilibrado, su carácter es noble y dócil. Es muy adecuada para la doma de Alta Escuela. Tiene su origen en la ganadería creada por los monjes Cartujanos de Jerez de la Frontera, en 1492. Se emplea aun como mejorante del caballo de raza española en Colombia (ganadería de D. Francisco León Arboleda) y en Costa Rica en las ganaderías del Sr. Mariano Guardia, D. Jorge Herrera y otras. También en Cuba fue comprada por el Sr. Fidel Castro; en USA se encuentra en las ganaderías de los sres. Currier, Broston, Parkinson, Garmendia, Alcalde, y otros. En México los ganaderos más importantes son D. Miguel Alemán, D. Enrique Alvarez y D. Plácido Arango. También está presente en Nicaragua, Perú, Venezuela, etc. Lo que demuestra su importante aportación genética al caballo Español en América

Participación microbiana en la formación de magnesita dentro de un ambiente lacustre evaporítico: Mioceno de la Cuenca de Madrid

Depto. de Mineralogía y PetrologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEBanco de Santanderpu

Magnesite formation by microbial activity: Evidence from a Miocene hypersaline lake

This paper provides an ancient analogue for biologically mediated magnesite in lacustrine hypersaline environments. Thin beds of massive to crudely laminated magnesitic marls occur interbedded with mudstone and evaporite facies deposited in a saline lake-mudflat sedimentary system during the Lower Miocene in the Madrid Basin, Central Spain. Exposure of this succession in a recently excavated tunnel and in collected cores offered a good opportunity to study magnesite precipitates that have been preserved in unaltered conditions by primary evaporitic minerals. Specifically, magnesite arranged as host matrix between and enclosed by displacive halite and glauberite crystals occurs closely associated with abundant microfossils embedded in sheets of organic matter, interpreted as the remains of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Even, many magnesite clots are seen to have resulted from the agglutination of fossilized bacterial bodies forming a biofilm. The close and pervasive association of microorganisms and magnesite is used as evidence that microbes played a fundamental role in the precipitation of this mineral. Additional traces of microorganisms and microbial activity observed in magnesite beds include the isotopic ratios in the carbonates, with the δ13C(PDB) value averaging −6.2‰, the presence of carbonaceous film-like structures and the association with patchly-distributed pyrite and celestite minerals. On the basis of the combined sedimentological, mineralogical, chemical and morphological signatures of the magnesitic deposits, it is postulated that carbonate crystals precipitated in microbial mats. Magnesite crystals together with celestite, local barite, and/or pyrite have been also observed to replace silicate and sulphate minerals. It is suggested that magnesite precipitation was biochemically coupled with the early dissolution of the associated sedimentary minerals. Microbes may have used the associated minerals as source of energy and/or of essential elements

Endomycorrhizae in Miocene paleosols: Implications in biotite weathering and accumulation of dolomite in plant roots (SW Madrid Basin, Spain)

This work provides evidence of arbuscular mycorrhizae (or endomycorrizhae) and their role in mineral weathering and soil carbonate production from Miocene paleosols. Formation of the paleosols-bearing mycorrhizae took place in marginal lacustrine and distal-fan deposits in the Madrid Basin. Endomycorrizhae fossils are preserved as carbonate in biotite-filled rhizoliths. Fossilized mycorrhizae are morphologically identical to those of living counterparts and consist of two linked parts. The extraradicular segment surrounding the root is represented by a calcitic mycelium comprising spores and two types of hyphae that are seen to attach and to corrode the mineral grains. The intraradicular part is made of a network of branched filaments, hyphal coils, arbuscules and likely vesicles that are mixed with the cortical root cells of the plants fossilized as dolomicrosparite aggregates. The preferential formation of the dolomite aggregates on biotite grains in rhizoliths is interpreted to reflect a focused interest of the plants on this mineral and indicates the mineral may have been used as a source of plant nutrients. The close association of the carbonate with the silicate further suggests that the precipitation of dolomite in the root cells and the weathering of the biotite resulted from interrelated processes. Main mechanisms to produce mineral dissolution include organic acids and chelate secretions by the plant roots and fungi which would remove nutrients. These results confirm that carbonate paleosols provide an excellent reservoir of information on ecological interactions and biogeochemical cycling, and expand the range of biogenic processes and their resultant products involved in the formation of carbonate soils. This approach has broad applications given the abundance of carbonate paleosols and the endomycorrhiza record dating back 400 million years

The role of microbial mats in the movement of stones on playa lake surfaces

This paper sheds light into the debated mechanisms that move rocks across low gradient surfaces during storm episodes. Microbial mats are recognised to play a crucial role in sediment destabilisation and the subsequent motion of rocks in a playa lake from central Spain. Widespread countless scars are present on the playa lake sediment surface, each terminating at a stone, and/or a mound of overfolded fragments of microbial mats. All available objects, including cobble-sized stones, on the surface were transported for several metres leaving behind furrow-like tracks. The starting point of the trackswas found underwater on a surface veneered by microbial mats poorly attached to the substrate. The flotation and transportation of the microbial upper layer by wind-generatedwater currents are suggested to be a critical element promoting the destabilisation and subsequent transportation of the attached sediment, including the rocks. The sudden exposure of bubble-separated sediment is also envisaged as a source of buoyancy required to lift out the rocks at the starting point of the tracks and to reduce the friction on the base of the rock. At the end of the tracks the rocks and the sedimentmounds often overlap,which reveals that rockswere embedded and transported by sediment rafts across the playa lake surface. The combination of the specific sedimentary and weather conditions involved in the transportation of rocks occurs periodically in mudflats. The implications are that this is not a local phenomenon, but rather, is a geographically widespread sedimentary process that may have occurred repeatedly throughout geological time. The effects of storm episodes can be inferred in ancient mudflat deposits by the assemblage of variablysized stones and microbial-mat related structures

Silicate bioweathering and biomineralization in lacustrine microbialites: ancient analogues from the Miocene Duero Basin, Spain

The Miocene dolomite-chert microbialites studied here offer a complete record of the geochemical cycles of silicate weathering and the subsequent formation of secondary products. The microbialites were formed in lacustrine systems during the Miocene of the Duero Basin, central Spain. Mineralogical, chemical and petrographic results provide evidence of the mediation of microbes in early weathering and by-product formation processes. Irrespective of the composition, the surfaces of the grains were subject to microbial attachment and concomitant weathering. Palaeo-weathering textures range from surface etching and pitting to extensive physical disaggregation of the minerals. Extreme silicate weathering led to the complete destruction of the silicate grains, whose prior existence is inferred from pseudomorphs exhibiting colonial textures like those recognized in the embedding matrix. Detailed petrographic and microanalytical examinations of theweathering effects in K-feldspars show that various secondary products with diverse crystallinity and chemical composition can coexist in the interior of a mineral. The coexistence of by-products is indicative of different microenvironmental conditions, likely created by microbial reactions. Thus, the presence of varied secondary products can be used as a criterion of biogenicity. Intensive alteration of P-bearing feldspars suggests that mineral weathering may have been driven by the nutrient requirements of the microbial consortium involved in the precipitation of dolomite. The rock record provides useful information on mineral weathering mediated by microbes

Shareholder activism and internationalization in the family firm

We present the internationalization of the family firm (FF) as a corporate growth strategy that is sometimes necessary to ensure survival. The different generations running the family firm (GFF) are likely to be constrained, not only by the demands of the business itself, but also by activism from non-management family shareholders. In this paper, we perform an analysis of a sample of Spanish family firms, both domestic and multinational, for the period 2000–2009. The results of this analysis show evidence of a positive relationship between the scope of internationalization and two other variables: family activism (FAI) and life cycle duration of the family firm (DLFF). When it comes to seeking alternative ways to create economic value and obtain debt finance, each generation is less risk averse than the preceding one. However, increasing family conflict over successive generations instigates economic value-destroying behavior. Overall, our findings suggest that economic value creation, leverage and international diversification in FFs will be conditioned not only by the ownership structure and size of the company, but also by the firm's current point in the business life cycle, the generation that is in charge, and activism from other family members, all of which play a decisive role in the FF internationalization and economic value creation process

Estimation of light lamb carcass composition by in vivo real-time ultrasonography at four anatomical locations

The objectives of this study were to study the relationship between in vivo ultrasound measurements and cold carcass measurements at 4 anatomical points of the backbone, and to establish regression equations to estimate carcass composition within the cold carcass weight range for Ternasco lambs (8 to 12.5 kg) by using ultrasonic measurements taken at a single location. Measurements of subcutaneous fat and skin thickness and of muscle depth and width were taken over the 10th to 11th and 12th to 13th thoracic vertebrae and the 1st to 2nd and 3rd to 4th lumbar vertebrae. These measurements were taken at 2 and 4 cm from the nearest end of the LM to the backbone and at 1/3 of the LM width with the probe perpendicular to and parallel to the backbone. The left sides of the carcasses were dissected into muscle, fat, and bone. Body weight (22.6 kg) and cold carcass weight (10.8 kg) were representative of Ternasco light lambs. Muscle depth measured at 2 cm, 4 cm, and 1/3 of LM width remained regular, with slight ups and downs along the spine. All the pairs of in vivo ultrasound and cold carcass measurements were significantly different (P < 0.05) and had small correlations. All the ultrasound measurements of muscle depth at any location or at any distance to the backbone were less than their equivalent cold carcass measurements, with differences ranging from 0.8 to 5.9 mm. Differences between ultrasound fat thickness + interface (US_FDGI) and cold carcass fat thickness were less than differences between ultrasound fat thickness and cold carcass fat thickness, ranging from −0.9 to −1.0 mm for the former and from −2.1 to −0.5 mm for the latter. The small differences in absolute values between US_FDGI and cold carcass fat thickness suggest that US_FDGI is the best measure of the real fatness level of the lambs. The best prediction equations for muscle, bone, and fat were developed with in vivo ultrasound data measured at the 1st to 2nd lumbar vertebrae perpendicularly to the backbone, but they had limited predictive value. To predict the muscle content of carcass, BW and muscle depth were included, and they explained 59% of variation. Fiftyone percent of total fat was predicted by BW and fat thickness, whereas only 17% of the variation in bone was predicted by 2 fat-related variables. The BW of lambs was an important predictor to improve regression equations but ultrasound measurements were the most important variables when a narrow range of BW was used

Alfalfa but not milk in lamb's diet improves meat fatty acid profile and a-tocopherol content

To establish animal feeding recommendations, it is required to quantify whether the effects of combining dietary alfalfa and milk on meat composition of light lambs are overlapped or independent. This experiment aimed to evaluate the separate effects of dietary alfalfa and milk access on the light lamb carcass quality (10–11 kg), meat colour, chemical composition, fatty acid profile and a-tocopherol content. Thirty-two lambs were assigned to one of four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The factors were the inclusion of dietary forage (grazed alfalfa vs. concentrate-fed indoors) and lactation length (weaning at a target live-weight of 13 kg vs. suckling until slaughter at 22–24 kg). Dietary alfalfa but not milk supply improved conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA), omega-3 fatty acids and a-tocopherol contents in lamb meat without affecting meat colour attributes. Milk supply affected more the fatty acid profile (more saturated) than the a-tocopherol content of meat. Thus, dietary alfalfa improved CLA, omega-3 fatty acids and a-tocopherol content in light lamb without affecting the meat colour, whereas lengthening the lactation period did not provide benefits in terms of meat colour or healthy nutrient composition