On the role of infiltration and exfiltration in swash zone boundary layer dynamics

Funded by Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CoNACyT) . Grant Number: 490080 Fulbright-Garcia Robles grant Instituto de Ingeniería UNAM International Collaborative Research project University of Delaware DGAPA UNAM National Science Foundation . Grant Numbers: OCE-0845004 , OCE-1332703 University of Delaware UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ‘Flood MEMORY: Multi-Event Modelling Of Risk & recoverY’ . Grant Number: EP EP/K013513/1Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessing how morphology of female desert bighorn sheep varies with climate in the Mojave Desert of California

Understanding how spatial variation in climate correlates with phenotypic variation among individuals may offer insights about local adaptation, population performance, and species’ response to climate change. Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) in the Mojave Desert of southern California experience a broad range of temperature and aridity, inhabiting mountain ranges with maximum elevations of 284—2417 m. I used data collected by California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife from 1978-2020 to assess variation in morphology among female desert bighorn sheep across 20 mountain ranges. Those data included horn length, horn circumference, body length, chest girth, metatarsal length, and neck circumference measurements. I tested the association of morphological measurements with environmental predictors (elevation, precipitation, and ambient temperature) using general linear models (GLMs) and principal component analysis (PCA) to determine whether climate was associated with morphology. I found that body length, chest girth, metatarsal length, and neck measurements were positively correlated with elevation and precipitation and negatively correlated with temperature. Horn length and circumference was best explained by a curvilinear relationship, where horn size was maximized at intermediate elevation and temperatures. I concluded that desert bighorn sheep morphology varies with climatic conditions, potentially due to local adaptation and differences in nutrition.Key Words: Morphology, phenotypic variation, local adaptation, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, Mojave Deser

University-enterprises: a win-win relationship, from business to research

Teaching at University is always a difficult task because it implies too much theoretical lessons while students ask for practical knowledge and Enterprises claim for good junior professionals. Finding an equilibrium among all the interests is challenging but at the same time, it is the key of success. This work shows the experience of teaching in collaboration with companies to achieve a more practical and attractive approach to day-to-day Engineering work while meeting teaching objectives. It is a win-win relationship since it motivates students because they see the direct relationship between their studies and the future job; it also helps teachers to know the knowledge required by engineering companies and, besides, enterprises will have future engineers better trained, already familiar with process and tools. Furthermore, it also increases the collaborations between University and enterprises, which is key to innovate and develop new business modelsPostprint (published version

Scale-dependent natural variation in larval nutritional reserves in a marine invertebrate:implications for recruitment and cross-ecosystem coupling

In species with complex life cycles, laboratory studies have shown that variations in the traits of settling larvae can affect post-settlement survival and influence recruitment and benthic− pelagic coupling. However, we still know little about the magnitude and spatial scale of natural trait variation. We studied spatial variation in body size and nutritional reserves (carbon, nitrogen and lipids) of settled cyprids of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides along the coast of West Scotland. We quantified variation among regions (north vs. south: range ~700 km), locations (~50 km), shores (~10 km) and within shores (~10 m). We also evaluated trait responses to gradients in chlorophyll and shore openness and compared swimming vs. settled cyprids in order to infer the likely influence of costs of substratum search on trait variation. Variability between regions was large, with higher trait values (e.g. carbon cyprid−1: 35 to 50% higher) in the north. Most traits correlated negatively with pelagic chlorophyll a (a proxy for larval/juvenile food availability); this counter-gradient pattern suggests an adaptive role of increased reserves, buffering benthic juveniles from low food availability during the critical early post-settlement period. Body size and nitrogen content correlated positively with shore openness; lower than expected carbon content suggest increased costs of substratum search on open shorelines. Higher nitrogen content but lower percent carbon was found in settled vs. swimming larvae, suggesting costs of sub - stratum search at the time of settlement. Overall, we uncovered the spatial scales at which trait variation, shaped by pelagic processes, can affect post-metamorphic survival, recruitment and benthic−pelagic coupling

Metal-Semiconductor Interfaces in Thin-Film Transistors

The metal-semiconductor interface in thin-film transistors (TFTs) is one of the bottlenecks on the development of these devices. Although this interface does not play an active role in the transistor operation, a low-quality interface can be responsible for a low performance operation. In a-Si TFTs, a doped film can be used to improve this interface, however, in other TFT technologies, there is no doped film to be used. In this chapter, some alternatives to improve this interface are analysed. Also, the influence of this interface on the electrical stability of these devices is presented