Organic Coffee Supply Chain Source Process Integration: A Peruvian Case

This paper analyzes the Supply Chain (SC) of the Coffee Industry, for organic production and develops the relationship between Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Supply Chain Integration (SCI) with the performance of Cooperatives and Coffee Associations in Junin Region, Peru. It also analyzes the current scenario of the Coffee Sector and the participation of the SC in the processing and distribution of Organic Coffee in Junn, Peru. A diagnosis process was made in the certified organizations belonging to the market, through results obtained from surveys and interviews that were applied in the sample space; this diagnosis indicated that they do not have a correct flow of information and materials, and evidenced the low level of interactions between the members; all this related to the SC. The final objective of this research is to improve the competitiveness of the organizations through the increase in the performance of the SC, for which a model of Integration appropriate to reality is propose

Proteins reversibly oxidized in cysteines in endothellial cells in response to acute hypoxia

Comunicaciones a congreso

Soil water percolation at different bulk densities

Soil structure, and specifically bulk density, porosity and connectivity have strong influence on water transport in the soil. In this work we describe the percolation of a fluid particle through a soil simulating its movement through voxel-thick images of the soil, imposing a downwards movement as a fluid particle randomly delivered from the top of a soil image. From the simulation, porosity, frequency distribution of random walk time (expressed as number of simulation steps), and depth reached by random walks was obtained. This work extended the analysis presented in Ruiz-Ramos et al. (2009). An arable sandy loam soil was packed into polypropylene cylinders of 6 cm diameter and 5 cm high at five different bulk densities: 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 Mgm3. The image stacks of 260x260x260 with voxel-thick slices were generated from the 3D volumes by using VGStudioMax v.1.2.1. Simulation of the percolation was done applying a set of 5 to 7 threshold values based on the analysis of the histogram region corresponding to 5 voxels. From each image, corresponding to a bulk density, percolation speed distribution in depth was estimated from the simulation outputs. Consequences and relationships among density, grey threshold, porosity and connectivity were discussed. Obtained distributions did not fit to a normal equation, preventing from applying the Darcy’s Laws for describing water movement on these soils

What you know or who you know? The role of intellectual and social capital in opportunity recognition

The recognition of business opportunities is the first stage in the entrepreneurial process. The current work analyzes the effects of individuals’ possession of and access to knowledge on the probability of recognizing good business opportunities in their area of residence. The authors use an eclectic theoretical framework consisting of intellectual and social capital concepts. In particular, they analyze the role of individuals’ educational level, their perception that they have the right knowledge and skills to start a business, whether they own and manage a firm, their contacts with other entrepreneurs, and whether they have been business angels. The hypotheses proposed here are tested using data collected for the GEM project in Spain in 2007. The results show that individuals’ access to external knowledge through the social networks in which they participate is fundamental for developing the capacity to recognize new business opportunities

Understanding Oceanic Migrations with Intrinsic Biogeochemical Markers

Migratory marine vertebrates move annually across remote oceanic water masses crossing international borders. Many anthropogenic threats such as overfishing, bycatch, pollution or global warming put millions of marine migrants at risk especially during their long-distance movements. Therefore, precise knowledge about these migratory movements to understand where and when these animals are more exposed to human impacts is vital for addressing marine conservation issues. Because electronic tracking devices suffer from several constraints, mainly logistical and financial, there is emerging interest in finding appropriate intrinsic markers, such as the chemical composition of inert tissues, to study long-distance migrations and identify wintering sites. Here, using tracked pelagic seabirds and some of their own feathers which were known to be grown at different places and times within the annual cycle, we proved the value of biogeochemical analyses of inert tissue as tracers of marine movements and habitat use. Analyses of feathers grown in summer showed that both stable isotope signatures and element concentrations can signal the origin of breeding birds feeding in distinct water masses. However, only stable isotopes signalled water masses used during winter because elements mainly accumulated during the long breeding period are incorporated into feathers grown in both summer and winter. Our findings shed new light on the simple and effective assignment of marine organisms to distinct oceanic areas, providing new opportunities to study unknown migration patterns of secretive species, including in relation to human-induced mortality on specific populations in the marine environment

Avicultura de traspatio en las familias participantes del programa pesa (FAO) en Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla.

The aim here was to determine characteristics of backyard poultry farming and its relationship to food security and poverty among families in rural communities. 86 surveys were applied to families from 15 communities. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and multiple correlations. All families own some animal species, chickens (66%), turkeys (22%), ducks (10%) and pigs (2%). Housewives are responsible for the production unit (77.6%); families raise poultry for own-consumption (66.3%) and for egg and meat production (88.2%). The main food given to the birds is maize grain (53%) and grazing is undertaken by 100% of families. The most common diseases are avian flu and measles, which are treated with antibiotics (33.3%) and local products such as lemon and tomato (21.2%). We concluded that backyard poultry farming represents an alternative for obtaining high-quality, low-cost food that can generate economic income will help improve food security and alleviate poverty.El objetivo fue determinar características de la avicultura de traspatio y la relación con la seguridad alimen­taria y pobreza de familias en comunidades rurales. Se aplicaron 86 encuestas a familias de 15 comunidades. Los datos se analizaron con estadísticos descriptivos y correlación múltiple. Todas las familias cuentan con alguna especie animal, gallinas (66%), guajolotes (22%), patos (10%) y cerdos (2%). Las amas de casa son las que atienden la unidad de producción (77.6%); las familias crían aves para autoconsumo (66.3%) y para producción de huevo y carne (88.2%). El principal alimento proporcionado a las aves es maíz entero (53%) y el pastoreo lo realizan las familias. Las enfermedades más comunes son gripe aviar y viruela, que son tratadas con antibióticos (33.3%) y productos locales como limón y jitomate (21.2%). Se concluyó que la cría de aves en traspatio representa una alternativa para la obtención de alimentos de alta calidad y costo bajo que puede generar ingresos económicos que ayudarían a mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y mitigar la pobreza

Proteómica redox diferencial: identificación de proteínas oxidadas reversiblemente en respuesta a hipoxia

Comunicaciones a congreso

Removal of Emerging Pollutants by a 3-Step System: Hybrid Digester, Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland and Photodegradation Post-treatments

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] The removal of emerging pollutants from municipal wastewater was studied for the first time using a three-step pilot-scale system: 1) hybrid digester (HD) as first step, 2) subsurface vertical flow constructed wetland (VF) as second step, and 3) photodegradation (PD) unit as third step or post-treatment. The HD and VF units were built and operated in series with effluent recirculation at pilot scale. For the PD post-treatment, three alternatives were studied at lab-scale, i) UVC irradiation at 254 nm (0.5 h exposure time), ii) UVA irradiation at 365 nm using a TiO2-based photocatalyst and iii) sunlight irradiation using a TiO2-based photocatalyst, the last two for 1 and 2 h. Alternative iii) was also tested at pilot-scale. Degradation of nine compounds was evaluated: acetaminophen (ACE), caffeine (CAF), carbamazepine (CBZ), ketoprofen (KET), ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DCL), clofibric acid (ACB), bisphenol A (BPA), and sotalol (SOT). Overall, the HD-VF-UVC system completely removed (>99.5 %) ACE, CAF, KET, IBU, DCL and ACB, and to a lesser extent SOT (98 %), BPA (83 %) and CBZ (51 %). On the other hand, the HD-VF-UVA/TiO2 system (at 2 h) achieved >99.5 % removal of ACE, CAF, KET, IBU and DCL while ACB, BPA, CBZ and SOT were degraded by 83 %, 81 %, 78 % and 68 %, respectively. Working also at 2 h of exposure time, in summer conditions, the HD-VF-Sol/TiO2 system achieved >99.5 % removal of ACE, CAF, KET, IBU, DCL and ACB, and to a minor extent BPA (80 %), SOT (74 %) and CBZ (69 %). Similar results, although slightly lower for SOT (60 %) and CBZ (59 %), were obtained in the pilot sunlight plus TiO2 catalyst unit. However, the use of sunlight irradiation with a TiO2-based photocatalyst clearly showed lower removal efficiency in autumn conditions (i.e., 47 % SOT, 31 % CBZ).This research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through project CTQ2015-71238-R (MINECO/FEDER), and the Xunta de Galicia (project GPC ED431B 2020/52 and project GPC ED431B 2019/44), respectively. Funding for open access charge: Universidade da Coruña/CISUGXunta de Galicia; GPC ED431B 2020/52Xunta de Galicia; GPC ED431B 2019/4

Mecanismos, alcances y limitaciones del Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública para la eficaz tutela del Derecho de Acceso a la Información Pública en El Salvador.

La investigación desarrollada, está enfocada en el instituto de acceso a la información pública en relación a los mecanismos, alcances y limitaciones que como instituto posee, dentro de las funciones que la LAIP le otorga y su respectivo reglamento. Primeramente, se hace un recorrido histórico para comprender como surge este derecho tanto a nivel internacional como nacional, las generalidades que este posee, así como la normativa que lo respalda y, sobre todo, haciendo el respectivo énfasis en los mecanismos, alcances y limitaciones que el derecho de acceso a la información pública posee. El Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública por medio de la labor que realiza, se ha logrado posicionar ante la sociedad salvadoreña, para que esta tenga conocimiento de dicha normativa y haga uso de ella ejerciendo su derecho de ser informados del actuar de las instituciones del Estado. En relación a los límites u obstáculos que el instituto ha encontrado en la labor que realiza, uno de los principales obstáculos es la falta de presupuesto económico que el Estado le asigna, no se les brinda el presupuesto suficiente para que puedan desempeñar eficientemente su función, la negativa de las instituciones del Estado para facilitar el acceso a la información a los solicitantes, la necesidad de reformas a fin de incluir en el catálogo de entes obligados otros que no están regulados dentro de la LAIP, no contar con una ley general de archivos, ya que este es uno de los mayores impedimentos para el acceso a la información pública en las instituciones del gobierno, entre otros

Percolation in soils at Different Bulk Densities: Porosity, Connectivity and Grey Threshold.

To improve percolation modelling on soils the geometrical properties of the pore space must be understood; this includes porosity, particle and pore size distribution and connectivity of the pores. A study was conducted with a soil at different bulk densities based on 3D grey images acquired by X-ray computed tomography. The objective was to analyze the effect in percolation of aspects of pore network geometry and discuss the influence of the grey threshold applied to the images. A model based on random walk algorithms was applied to the images, combining five bulk densities with up to six threshold values per density. This allowed for a dynamical perspective of soil structure in relation to water transport through the inclusion of percolation speed in the analyses. To evaluate separately connectivity and isolate the effect of the grey threshold, a critical value of 35% of porosity was selected for every density. This value was the smallest at which total-percolation walks appeared for the all images of the same porosity and may represent a situation of percolation comparable among bulks densities. This criterion avoided an arbitrary decision in grey thresholds. Besides, a random matrix simulation at 35% of porosity with real images was used to test the existence of pore connectivity as a consequence of a non-random soil structure