Impact of fisheries on activity, diet and predatory interactions between yellow-legged and Audouin's gulls breeding at the Chafarinas Is.

Interactions between yellow-legged Larus cachinnans and Audouin´s Larus audouinii gulls and fisheries operating around the Chafarinas Islands, located 4.5 km off the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, are reviewed. At the Chafarinas archipelago two distinct types of fisheries operate: trawlers and purse seines. Gulls take advantage of both fisheries. They scavenge trawler discards and congregate around shoals of fish attracted to the surface by the purse-seine lamps. When both trawlers and purse-seine boats are in operation, the diet of both gull species is similar, with epipelagic fish accounting for over 60% of the biomass, partially collected in association with the purse-seine fishery. When only trawlers operated yellow-legged gulls, but not Audouin´s gulls, augmented their diet mainly with human waste from refuse dumps, suggesting that competition for food between the two species is mainly limited to the periods when resources made available by fishery activities are abundant. Likewise, when only trawlers operated, there was an increase in the predation pressure on eggs and chicks of Audouin´s gulls. In particular, during the week of celebrations for the holy lamb festival when neither fishery operated, egg losses of Audouin´s gull increased dramatically, suggesting that severe food shortage caused by the cessation of fishing can result in an increased predation pressure by yellow-legged gulls, affecting Audouin´s gull productivity. These results suggest a novel socio-ecological link between gulls, fisheries and local feasts.

Data-division-specific robustness and power of randomization tests for ABAB designs

This study deals with the statistical properties of a randomization test applied to an ABAB design in cases where the desirable random assignment of the points of change in phase is not possible. In order to obtain information about each possible data division we carried out a conditional Monte Carlo simulation with 100,000 samples for each systematically chosen triplet. Robustness and power are studied under several experimental conditions: different autocorrelation levels and different effect sizes, as well as different phase lengths determined by the points of change. Type I error rates were distorted by the presence of autocorrelation for the majority of data divisions. Satisfactory Type II error rates were obtained only for large treatment effects. The relationship between the lengths of the four phases appeared to be an important factor for the robustness and the power of the randomization test.

Acoustic transport of charge and spins in GaAs-based heterostructures

Report for the scientific sojourn carried out at the Paul Drude Institut für Festkörperelektronik of the Stanford University, USA, from 2010 to 2012. The objective of this project is the transport and control of electronic charge and spin along GaAs-based semiconductor heterostructures. The electronic transport has been achieved by taking advantage of the piezolectric field induced by surface acoustic waves in non-centrosymmetric materials like GaAs. This piezolectric field separates photogenerated electrons and holes at different positions along the acoustic wave, where they acummulate and are transported at the same velocity as the wave. Two different kinds of structures have been studied: quantum wells grown along the (110) direction, both intrinsic and n-doped, as well as GaAs nanowires. The analysis of the charge acoustic transport was performed by micro-photoluminescence, whereas the detection of the spin transport was done either by analyzing the polarization state of the emitted photoluminescence or by Kerr reflectometry. Our results in GaAs quantum wells show that charge and spin transport is clearly observed at the non-doped structures,obtaining spin lifetimes of the order of several nanoseconds, whereas no acoutically induced spin transport was detected for the n-doped quantum wells. In the GaAs nanowires, we were able of transporting successfully both electrons and holes along the nanowire axis, but no conservation of the spin polarization has been observed until now. The photoluminescence emitted by these structures after acoustic transport, however, shows anti-bunching characteristics, making this system a very good candidate for its use as single photon emitters.

Pseudogenes in the ENCODE regions: consensus annotation, analysis of transcription, and evolution

Arising from either retrotransposition or genomic duplication of functional genes, pseudogenes are “genomic fossils” valuable for exploring the dynamics and evolution of genes and genomes. Pseudogene identification is an important problem in computational genomics, and is also critical for obtaining an accurate picture of a genome’s structure and function. However, no consensus computational scheme for defining and detecting pseudogenes has been developed thus far. As part of the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, we have compared several distinct pseudogene annotation strategies and found that different approaches and parameters often resulted in rather distinct sets of pseudogenes. We subsequently developed a consensus approach for annotating pseudogenes (derived from protein coding genes) in the ENCODE regions, resulting in 201 pseudogenes, two-thirds of which originated from retrotransposition. A survey of orthologs for these pseudogenes in 28 vertebrate genomes showed that a significant fraction (∼80%) of the processed pseudogenes are primate-specific sequences, highlighting the increasing retrotransposition activity in primates. Analysis of sequence conservation and variation also demonstrated that most pseudogenes evolve neutrally, and processed pseudogenes appear to have lost their coding potential immediately or soon after their emergence. In order to explore the functional implication of pseudogene prevalence, we have extensively examined the transcriptional activity of the ENCODE pseudogenes. We performed systematic series of pseudogene-specific RACE analyses. These, together with complementary evidence derived from tiling microarrays and high throughput sequencing, demonstrated that at least a fifth of the 201 pseudogenes are transcribed in one or more cell lines or tissues.

The illusion of control, the structures of prizes and the demand for football pools in Spain

Using data for all the fixtures for the seasons from 1972-73 to 2002-03, we estimate a dynamic model of demand for football pools in Spain paying attention to whether their main economic explanatory variable is the effective price of a ticket or the jackpot. Additionally, we evaluate the importance of the composition of the list of games in terms of whether First Division matches are included or not. Results show that the jackpot model is preferred to the effective price model, having important implications in terms of how the structure of the game should be changed in order to increase demand.

Self-organized criticality and synchronization in a coupled map lattice model of integrate-and-fire oscillators

We introduce two coupled map lattice models with nonconservative interactions and a continuous nonlinear driving. Depending on both the degree of conservation and the convexity of the driving we find different behaviors, ranging from self-organized criticality, in the sense that the distribution of events (avalanches) obeys a power law, to a macroscopic synchronization of the population of oscillators, with avalanches of the size of the system.

Shrouded costs of government: The political economy of state and local public pensions

Why do public-sector workers receive so much of their compensation in the formof pensions and other benefits? This paper presents a political economy model inwhich politicians compete for taxpayers' and government employees' votes by promising compensation packages, but some voters cannot evaluate every aspect of promisedcompensation. If pension packages are "shrouded", so that public-sector workers better understand their value than ordinary taxpayers, then compensation will be highlyback-loaded. In equilibrium, the welfare of public-sector workers could be improved,holding total public-sector costs constant, if they received higher wages and lowerpensions. Centralizing pension determination has two offsetting effects on generosity:more state-level media attention helps taxpayers better understand pension costs, andthat reduces pension generosity; but a larger share of public-sector workers will votewithin the jurisdiction, which increases pension generosity. A short discussion of pensions in two decentralized states (California and Pennsylvania) and two centralizedstates (Massachusetts and Ohio) suggests that centralization appears to have modestlyreduced pensions, but, as the model suggests, this is unlikely to be universal.

Effect of Tocopherol Extract, Staphylococcus carnosus Culture, and Celery Concentrate Addition on Quality Parameters of Organic and Conventional Dry-Cured Sausages

The effects of the addition to sausage mix of tocopherols (200 mg/kg), a conventional starter culture with or without Staphylococcus carnosus, celery concentrate (CP) (0.23% and 0.46%), and two doses of nitrate (70 and 140 mg/kg expressed as NaNO(3)) on residual nitrate and nitrite amounts, instrumental CIE Lab color, tocol content, oxidative stability, and overall acceptability were studied in fermented dry-cured sausages after ripening and after storage. Nitrate doses were provided by nitrate-rich CP or a chemical grade source. The lower dose complies with the EU requirements governing the maximum for ingoing amounts in organic meat products. Tocopherol addition protected against oxidation, whereas the nitrate dose, nitrate source, or starter culture had little influence on secondary oxidation values. The residual nitrate and nitrite amounts found in the sausages with the lower nitrate dose were within EU-permitted limits for organic meat products and residual nitrate can be further reduced by the presence of the S. carnosus culture. Color measurements were not affected by the CP dose. Product consumer acceptability was not affected negatively by any of the factors studied. As the two nitrate sources behaved similarly for the parameters studied, CP is a useful alternative to chemical ingredients for organic dry-cured sausage production.

Photographic rectification of the graphic documentation of historical and archaeological heritage: The case of the southern facade of the Praetorium tower in Tarragona (Tarraco, Hispania Citerior)

This article details the use of photographic rectification as support for the graphic documentation of historical and archaeological heritage and specifically the southern facade of the Torre del Pretori (Praetorium Tower) in Tarragona. The Praetorium Tower is part of a larger monumental complex and one of the towers that connected different parts of the Tarraco Provincial Forum, the politic-administrative centre of the ancient capital of Hispania Citerioris. It is therefore a valuable example of the evolution of Roman urban architecture. The aim of this project is to provide accurate graphic documentation of the structure to facilitate the restoration and conservation of the tower, as well as to provide a more profound architectural and archaeological understanding of the Roman forum. The use of photographic rectification enabled us to overcome the spatial and time difficulties involved in collecting data caused by the size and location of the building. Specific software made it easier to obtain accurate two-dimensional images. For this reason, in our case, photographic rectification helped us to make a direct analysis of the monument and facilitated interpretation of the architectural stratigraphy. We currently separate the line of research into two concepts: the construction processes and the architecture of the building. The documentation collected permitted various analyses: the characterisation of the building modules, identification of the tools used to work the building materials, etc. In conclusion, the use of orthoimages is a powerful tool that permits the systematic study of a Roman building that has evolved over the centuries and is now in a modern urban context.

Management of varices and variceal hemorrhage in cirrhosis.

Variceal hemorrhage is a lethal complication of cirrhosis, particularly in patients in whom clinical decompensation (i.e., ascites, encephalopathy, a previous episode of hemorrhage, or jaundice) has already developed. Practice guidelines for the management of varices and variceal hemorrhage1 in cirrhosis are mostly based on evidence in the literature that has been summarized and prioritized at consensus conferences...

Identification of metabolites and thermal transformation products of quinolones in raw cow milk by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry

The presence of residues of antibiotics, metabolites, and thermal transformation products (TPs), produced during thermal treatment to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms in milk, could represent a risk for people. Cow"s milk samples spiked with enrofloxacin (ENR), ciprofloxacin (CIP), difloxacin (DIF), and sarafloxacin (SAR) and milk samples from cows medicated with ENR were submitted to several thermal treatments. The milk samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to find and identify TPs and metabolites. In this work, 27 TPs of 4 quinolones and 24 metabolites of ENR were found. Some of these compounds had been reported previously, but others were characterized for the first time, including lactose-conjugated CIP, the formamidation reaction for CIP and SAR, and hydroxylation or ketone formation to produce three different isomers for all quinolones studied.

Identification of metabolites and thermal transformation products of quinolones in raw cow milk by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry.

The presence of residues of antibiotics, metabolites, and thermal transformation products (TPs), produced during thermal treatment to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms in milk, could represent a risk for people. Cow"s milk samples spiked with enrofloxacin (ENR), ciprofloxacin (CIP), difloxacin (DIF), and sarafloxacin (SAR) and milk samples from cows medicated with ENR were submitted to several thermal treatments. The milk samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to find and identify TPs and metabolites. In this work, 27 TPs of 4 quinolones and 24 metabolites of ENR were found. Some of these compounds had been reported previously, but others were characterized for the first time, including lactose-conjugated CIP, the formamidation reaction for CIP and SAR, and hydroxylation or ketone formation to produce three different isomers for all quinolones studied.

Functional neuroanatomy of contextual acquisition of concrete and abstract words

The meaning of a novel word can be acquired by extracting it from linguistic context. Here we simulated word learning of new words associated to concrete and abstract concepts in a variant of the human simulation paradigm that provided linguistic context information in order to characterize the brain systems involved. Native speakers of Spanish read pairs of sentences in order to derive the meaning of a new word that appeared in the terminal position of the sentences. fMRI revealed that learning the meaning associated to concrete and abstract new words was qualitatively different and recruited similar brain regions as the processing of real concrete and abstract words. In particular, learning of new concrete words selectively boosted the activation of the ventral anterior fusiform gyrus, a region driven by imageability, which has previously been implicated in the processing of concrete words.