Jet Physics at the LHC in ALICE

The strong suppression of high-$p_T$ hadrons observed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC indicates the interaction of high energy partons with a dense colored medium prior to hadronization. We review the main results from the high-$p_T$ hadron analysis at RHIC and what they tell us about the medium. We then concentrate on the new possibilities that the wider kinematic range at the LHC will offer and how they will help us to better characterize the medium produced in these collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Hot Quarks 2006, Villasimius, Italy, 15-20 May 200

Heavy Ion Physics with ALICE

ALICE will study the physics of the strongly interacting matter produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC where the formation of the Quark Gluon Plasma is expected. The experimental setup, the capabilities of the detector, and a few selected heavy-ion topics are presented and discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to "XLVII International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics, Bormio (Italy), Jan. 26-30, 2009

Conservation and use of genetic resources of underutilized crops in the Americas - A continental analysis

Latin America is home to dramatically diverse agroecological regions which harbor a high concentration of underutilized plant species, whose genetic resources hold the potential to address challenges such as sustainable agricultural development, food security and sovereignty, and climate change. This paper examines the status of an expert-informed list of underutilized crops in Latin America and analyses how the most common features of underuse apply to these. The analysis pays special attention to if and how existing international policy and legal frameworks on biodiversity and plant genetic resources effectively support or not the conservation and sustainable use of underutilized crops. Results show that not all minor crops are affected by the same degree of neglect, and that the aspects under which any crop is underutilized vary greatly, calling for specific analyses and interventions. We also show that current international policy and legal instruments have so far provided limited stimulus and funding for the conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of these crops. Finally, the paper proposes an analytical framework for identifying and evaluating a crop’s underutilization, in order to define the most appropriate type and levels of intervention (international, national, local) for improving its statu

Asymptotic theory of statistics form unit root test regressions when the alternative is a breaking-trend-stationary model

We derive test regressions whose structure provides a link between tests for a unit root and tests on the nullity of the parameters associated with the regression's trend function. These test regressions turn out to be equivalent to those proposed by Perron (1989). Using these regression equations, we extend Perron's (1989) asymptotic results by deriving limiting distributions of the deterministic components for all the models considered. The asymptotic representations of these distributions show that there is no conflict between testing for unit roots and for structural breaks: acceptance of a unit root rules out acceptance of a structural break, as modelled by a dummy variable.

Sector-Level Disaggregate Stochastic Trends in Mexico’s Real Output

Our aim is to examine whether sectorial production shocks have predominated in Mexico’s long annual real output, and whether shocks from different sectors are correlated. We study the long-run movement and comovements of 6 production sectors, using long, low frequency data for the Mexican economy from 1921 to 1993 and Johansen’s (1991, 1995) method to test for cointegration, that is, the possibility of common stochastic shocks driving growth among sectors. Under cointegration, the idiosyncratic sectorial shocks cancel out and vanish, giving rise to a (possibly multiple) stochastic growth component common to all (some) sectors. We show that the sources of permanent innovations in Mexico’s real output are more likely to come from sector-group-specific sources rather than from either independent sector-specific technological shocks, or common aggregate permanent innovations.Sectorial Production, Sequential Unit Root Testing, Cointegration, Common Trends

First Record of an Extinct Marabou Stork in the Neogene of South America

We describe a new large species of marabou stork, Leptoptilus patagonicus(Ciconiiformes, Ciconiidae, Leptoptilini), from the late Miocene Puerto Madryn Formation, Chubut Province, Argentina. The specimen consists mainly of wing and leg bones, pelvis, sternum, cervical vertebrae, and a few fragments of the skull. We provisionally adopt the traditional system− atic scheme of ciconiid tribes. The specimen is referred to the Leptoptilini on the basis of similarities in morphology and intramembral proportions with the extant genera Ephippiorhynchus, Jabiru, and Leptoptilos. The fossil specimen resembles in overall morphology and size the species of Leptoptilos, but also exhibits several exclusive characters of the sternum, hu− merus, carpometacarpus, tibiotarsus, and pelvis. Additionally, its wing proportions differ from those of any living taxon, providing support to erect a new species. This is the first record of the tribe Leptoptilini in the Tertiary of South America.Fil: Noriega, Jorge Ignacio. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Cladera, Gerardo. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentin

Public Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Mexico

We develop a model where investment in infrastructure complements private investment. We then provide time series evidence for Mexico on both the impact of public infrastructure on output, and on the optimality with which levels of infrastructure have been set. In particular, we look at the long-run effects of shocks to infrastructure on real output. We compute Long-Run Derivatives for kilowatts of electricity, roads and phone lines, and find that shocks to infrastructure have positive and significant effects on real output for all three measures of infrastructure. For electricity and roads, the effect becomes significant after 7 and 8 years, respectively, whereas for phones, the effect on growth is significant only after 13 years. These effects of infrastructure on output are in agreement with growth models where long-run growth is driven by endogenous factors of production. However, our results indicate that none of these variables seem to be set at growth maximizing levels.