Aplicación del modelo modergis en el uso sostenible en la dendroenergía y los biocombustibles para países en vía de desarrollo- caso Colombia.

Numerosos países en vía de desarrollo caso Colombia, contienen un enorme potencial de recursos en energías renovables como la dendroenergía incluidos los biocombustibles, pero no se utilizan en gran magnitud ni se han incorporado al Mix Energético Nacional debido a la falta de herramientas que las evalué e integre de manera armónico y con criterio sostenible. En tal sentido la Universidad Nacional de Colombia y el Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas - CIEMAT de España, han desarrollado conjuntamente una herramienta de planificación energética sostenible denominada - MODERGIS - que tiene como objeto la incorporación, evaluación y análisis de energías renovables con énfasis a la dendroenergía y los biocombustibles utilizando las técnicas de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica - SIG, como instrumento alternativo de planificación y uso sostenible ambiental, social, económico y cultural del uso del suelo. El modelo esta conformado por tres componentes: ENERDEM modelo de demanda- oferta de energía, ENERSIG: espacialización e integración de energías renovables mediante los Sistemas de Información Geográfica - SIG y ENERSOS modelo basado en métodos de análisis multiobjetivo tendientes a optimizar las dimensiones de la sostenibilidad de las fuentes energética, incorporando el análisis de ciclo de vida. Los resultados preliminares del modelo presentan 6.8 Millones de hectáreas factibles en el uso de la Dendroenergía, el cual significaría un potencial de 4400 MW instalables si se dedicara en la producción de energía eléctrica. En biocombustibles el Biodiesel de palma de aceite arroja un potencial de 1017 millones de barriles y 54 millones de barriles de etanol de caña de azúcar, el cual justificaría proporciones de abastecimiento interno con las mezclas de E10 y B5, quedando un gran potencial para interferir el mercado internacional, lo cual con la metodología de ModerGIS tiene incluido los criterios de sostenibilidad que son necesarios para ingresar a estos mercados.An essential element to reach sustainable development is an appropriate and reliable energy supply. This helps to eradicate poverty, improve human welfare, and to raise quality of life in the population. However, many regions in the world do not have a reliable supply, and its use exceeds economic limits, creating a dichotomy between growth and sustainability. World institutons such as United Nations and its organization UNESCO, have demonstrated that current energy production and consumption models are not sustainable in a medium term. Many countries, especially those that are in development such as Colombia, have a great potential of renewable energy resources that have not been used or incorporated into the energy mix due to the lack of tools to evaluate and to integrate them with a sustainability criteria. Then, “Universidad Nacional de Colombia” (Colombia) and “Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas – CIEMAT” (Spain) have jointly developed an integrated energy planning tool named MODERGIS. Its objective is to incorporate, evaluate and analyze renewable resources such as wood energy including biofuels. This model comprises three constitutive elements: an energy supply-demand model (ENERDEM), an integration and space definition of renewable energy through geographic information systems (ENERSIG), and a multi-objectiveanalysis to optimize sustainability dimensions of energy sources (ENERSOS). The current paper shows some of the preliminary results of this model, and discusses on the methodological issues faced during its development. Further and more expanded results are expected to be published in the near future

An AB effect without closing a loop

We discuss the consequences of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in setups involving several charged particles, wherein none of the charged particles encloses a closed loop around the magnetic flux. We show that in such setups, the AB phase is encoded either in the relative phase of a bi-partite or multi-partite entangled photons states, or alternatively, gives rise to an overall AB phase that can be measured relative to another reference system. These setups involve processes of annihilation or creation of electron/hole pairs. We discuss the relevance of such effects in "vacuum Birefringence" in QED, and comment on their connection to other known effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Social Construction of Health Risk: Rhetorical Elements in Colombian and U.S. News Coverage of Coca Eradication

This paper examines rhetorical elements related to the social construction of health risk. More specifically, we analyze how prominent Colombian and U.S. newspapers construct the health risks associated with the use of glyphosate in the “war on drugs” in Colombia. Glyphosate, an herbicide that works as a plant growth regulator, is used heavily via aerial spraying to eradicate Colombian coca cultivation: use mandated by Plan Colombia. These practices have generated wide ranging cultural and sociopolitical disputes among environmental, health, communal, and political organizations. While our focus is on the controversy related to health issues, our analyses necessarily touch on various environmental, community, and political issues

Systematic revision and phylogeny of the South American sun-spider genus Gaucha Mello-Leitão (Solifugae: Mummuciidae), with description of four new species and two new generic synonymies

The South American sun-spider genus Gaucha Mello-Leitão, 1924 is herein studied from a combined approach of cladistics and traditional taxonomy. This is the first cladistic analysis for a group of mummuciid solifuges, and it is pioneer in integrating traditional morphological characters with landmark data for inferring the phylogeny of any group of Solifugae. As a result, Gaucha is redefined and its monophyly demonstrated. Gaucha fasciata Mello-Leitão, 1924, type species of this formerly monotypic genus, is redescribed based on specimens from the type locality, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Three new species are described from Brazil: Gaucha avexada sp.nov. from Bahia and Tocantins, Gaucha curupi sp.nov. from Rio Grande do Sul, and Gaucha eremolembra sp.nov. from Minas Gerais. A fourth new species, Gaucha casuhati sp.nov., is described from Buenos Aires province, Argentina. In addition, Metacleobis Roewer, 1934 and Gauchella Mello-Leitão, 1937 are synonymized with Gaucha, following the examination of the type specimens and based upon evidence from the cladistic analysis. Gaucha fulvipes (Roewer, 1934) comb.nov., from Mato Grosso (Brazil), is therefore proposed, whereas Gaucha stoeckeli Roewer, 1934 comb.rest., from Luribay (Bolivia), is restored into its original name combination. Gaucha ibirapemussu (Carvalho et al., 2010) comb.nov. and Gaucha mauryi (Rocha, 2001) comb.nov., from the Brazilian states of Piauí and Bahia, are also transferred, from Mummucia Simon, 1879. Gaucha is here defined, among other characters, by the large size of the cheliceral movable finger MP tooth as compared to MM tooth, and by the presence of a pronounced gnathal edge carina on the movable finger mucron of males. Two species groups are herein defined within the genus: the fasciata group, for G. casuhati sp.nov., G. curupi sp.nov., G. fasciata, G. fulvipes comb. nov. and G. stoeckeli comb.rest., and the ibirapemussu group, for G. avexada sp.nov., G. eremolembra sp.nov., G. ibirapemussu comb. nov. and G. mauryi comb.nov. A key to the identification of Gaucha species is included. Fil: Botero Trujillo, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Ott, Ricardo. Fundacao Zoobotanica Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Carvalho, Leonardo S.. Universidade Federal Do Piauí; Brasil. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasi

Efecto del enriquecimiento con nutrientes en la degradación de clorpirifos, malatión y metil paratión

Con el fin de evaluar el efecto del enriquecimiento con nutrientes (una sal de fósforo o un fertilizante comercial con N, P y K) como alternativa para mejorar la capacidad de degradación de los microorganismos en una matriz sólida, contaminada con los pesticidas organofosforados: clorpirifos, malatión y metil paratión, se realizaron experimentos de cultivo bajo condiciones controladas de oscuridad, temperatura y humedad por 30 días. En todos los tratamientos hubo degradación de los pesticidas; sin embargo, en el tratamiento con fósforo los tiempos para degradar el clorpirifos y el metil paratión fueron mayores. La presencia de los pesticidas no generó efectos tóxicos detectables sobre la microflora en ninguno de los tratamientos evaluados. La actividad biológica de las matrices no presentó una relación directa con la capacidad de degradación. Abstract In order to evaluate the effect of inorganic nutrient addition (phosphorus or commercial fertilizer) over the microbial degradation capacity present in a solid matrix contaminated with chlorpyrifos, malathion and methyl parathion, microcosms assays were held under controlled conditions of light, moisture and temperature for 30 days. Results showed that even though three treatments microorganisms were able to degrade the three organophosphorus pesticides, microorganisms of phosphorus-enrichment treatment were less efficient to degrade Chlorpyrifos and Methyl Parathion than microorganisms of Fertilizer-enrichment treatment. It was not observed a direct relation between mineralization and microbial pesticides degradation capacity. The microbial activity was not affected by the presence of organophosphorus pesticides

Variation in fine-scale genetic structure and local dispersal patterns between peripheral populations of a South American passerine bird

Indexación: Scopus.The distribution of suitable habitat influences natal and breeding dispersal at small spatial scales, resulting in strong microgeographic genetic structure. Although environmental variation can promote interpopulation differences in dispersal behavior and local spatial patterns, the effects of distinct ecological conditions on within-species variation in dispersal strategies and in fine-scale genetic structure remain poorly understood. We studied local dispersal and fine-scale genetic structure in the thorn-tailed rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda), a South American bird that breeds along a wide latitudinal gradient. We combine capture-mark-recapture data from eight breeding seasons and molecular genetics to compare two peripheral populations with contrasting environments in Chile: Navarino Island, a continuous and low density habitat, and Fray Jorge National Park, a fragmented, densely populated and more stressful environment. Natal dispersal showed no sex bias in Navarino but was female-biased in the more dense population in Fray Jorge. In the latter, male movements were restricted, and some birds seemed to skip breeding in their first year, suggesting habitat saturation. Breeding dispersal was limited in both populations, with males being more philopatric than females. Spatial genetic autocorrelation analyzes using 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci confirmed the observed dispersal patterns: a fine-scale genetic structure was only detectable for males in Fray Jorge for distances up to 450 m. Furthermore, two-dimensional autocorrelation analyzes and estimates of genetic relatedness indicated that related males tended to be spatially clustered in this population. Our study shows evidence for context-dependent variation in natal dispersal and corresponding local genetic structure in peripheral populations of this bird. It seems likely that the costs of dispersal are higher in the fragmented and higher density environment in Fray Jorge, particularly for males. The observed differences in microgeographic genetic structure for rayaditos might reflect the genetic consequences of population-specific responses to contrasting environmental pressures near the range limits of its distribution.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.3342/epd

Big brains stabilize populations and facilitate colonization of variable habitats in birds

The cognitive buffer hypothesis posits that environmental variability can be a major driver of the evolution of cognition because an enhanced ability to produce flexible behavioural responses facilitates coping with the unexpected. Although comparative evidence supports different aspects of this hypothesis, a direct connection between cognition and the ability to survive a variable and unpredictable environment has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we use complementary demographic and evolutionary analyses to show that among birds, the mechanistic premise of this hypothesis is well supported but the implied direction of causality is not. Specifically, we show that although population dynamics are more stable and less affected by environmental variation in birds with larger relative brain sizes, the evolution of larger brains often pre-dated and facilitated the colonization of variable habitats rather than the other way around. Our findings highlight the importance of investigating the timeline of evolutionary events when interpreting patterns of phylogenetic correlation

Configuring Devices for Phenomena in-the-Making

STS scholars are engaging in collaborative research in order to study extended socio-technical phenomena. This article participates in discussions on methodography and inventive methods by reflecting on visualizations used both internally by a team of researchers and together with study participants. We describe how these devices for generating and transforming data were brought to our ethnographic inquiry into the formation of research infrastructures which we found to involve unwieldy and evolving phenomena. The visualizations are partial renderings of the object of inquiry, crafted and informed by 'configuration' as a method of assemblage that supports ethnographic study of contemporary socio-technical phenomena. We scrutinize our interdisciplinary bringing together of visualizing devices - timelines, collages, and sketches - and position them in the STS methods toolbox for inquiry and invention. These devices are key to investigating and engaging with the dynamics of configuring infrastructures intended to support scientific knowledge production. We conclude by observing how our three kinds of visualizing devices provide flexibility, comprehension and in(ter)ventive opportunities for study of and engagement with complex phenomena in-the-making.Peer reviewe

Mode-Wise Entanglement of Gaussian States

We address the decomposition of a multi-mode pure Gaussian state with respect to a bi-partite division of the modes. For any such division the state can always be expressed as a product state involving entangled two-mode squeezed states and single mode local states at each side. The character of entanglement of the state can therefore be understood modewise; that is, a given mode on one side is entangled with only one corresponding mode of the other, and therefore the total bi-partite entanglement is the sum of the modewise entanglement. This decomposition is generally not applicable to all mixed Gaussian states. However, the result can be extended to a special family of "isotropic" states, characterized by a phase space covariance matrix with a completely degenerate symplectic spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex4. Replaced with revised version with reference added to a previous related paper. Minor typographical errors correcte