Using 18O/2H, 3H/3He, 85Kr and CFCs to determine mean residence times and water origin in the Grazer and Leibnitzer Feld groundwater bodies (Austria)

Two groundwater bodies, Grazer Feld and Leibnitzer Feld, with surface areas of 166 and 103 km2 respectively are characterised for the first time by measuring the combination of d18O/d2H, 3H/3He, 85Kr, CFC-11, CFC-12 and hydrochemistry in 34 monitoring wells in 2009/2010. The timescales of groundwater recharge have been characterised by 131 d18O measurements of well and surface water sampled on a seasonal basis. Most monitoring wells show a seasonal variation or indicate variable contributions of the main river Mur (0–30%, max. 70%) and/or other rivers having their recharge areas in higher altitudes. Combined d18O/d2H-measurements indicate that 65–75% of groundwater recharge in the unusual wet year of 2009 was from precipitation in the summer based on values from the Graz meteorological station. Monitoring wells downstream of gravel pit lakes show a clear evaporation trend. A boron–nitrate differentiation plot shows more frequent boron-rich water in the more urbanised Grazer Feld and more frequent nitrate-rich water in the more agricultural used Leibnitzer Feld indicating that a some of the nitrate load in the Grazer Feld comes from urban sewer water. Several lumped parameter models based on tritium input data from Graz and monthly data from the river Mur (Spielfeld) since 1977 yield a Mean Residence Time (MRT) for the Mur-water itself between 3 and 4 years in this area. Data from d18O, 3H/3He measurements at the Wagna lysimeter station supports the conclusion that 90% of the groundwaters in the Grazer Feld and 73% in the Leibnitzer Feld have MRTs of <5 years. Only in a few groundwaters were MRTs of 6–10 or 11–25 years as a result of either a long-distance water inflow in the basins or due to longer flow path in somewhat deeper wells (>20 m) with relative thicker unsaturated zones. The young MRT of groundwater from two monitoring wells in the Leibnitzer Feld was confirmed by 85Kr-measurements. Most CFC-11 and CFC-12 concentrations in the groundwater exceed the equilibration concentrations of modern concentrations in water and are therefore unsuitable for dating purposes. An enrichment factor up to 100 compared to atmospheric equilibrium concentrations and the obvious correlation of CFC-12 with SO4, Na, Cl and B in the ground waters of the Grazer Feld suggest that waste water in contact with CFC-containing material above and below ground is the source for the contamination. The dominance of very young groundwater (<5 years) indicates a recent origin of the contamination by nitrate and many other components observed in parts of the groundwater bodies. Rapid measures to reduce those sources are needed to mitigate against further deterioration of these waters.

Petrological parameters of sands and sandstones from DSDP and ODP holes in arc-related areas

Detrital modes for 524 deep-marine sand and sandstone samples recovered on circum-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean legs of the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program form the basis for an actualistic model for arc-related provenance. This model refines the Dickinson and Suczek (1979) and Dickinson and others (1983) models and can be used to interpret the provenance/tectonic history of ancient arc-related sedimentary sequences. Four provenance groups are defined using QFL, QmKP, LmLvLs, and LvfLvmiLvl ternary plots of site means: (1) intraoceanic arc and remnant arc, (2) continental arc, (3) triple junction, and (4) strike-slip-continental arc. Intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sands are poor in quartz (mean QFL%Q < 5) and rich in lithics (QFL%L > 75); they are predominantly composed of plagioclase feldspar and volcanic lithic fragments. Continental-arc sand can be more quartzofeldspathic than the intraoceanic- and remnant-arc sand (mean QFL%Q values as much as 10, mean QFL%F values as much as 65, and mean QmKP%Qm as much as 20) and has more variable lithic populations, with minor metamorphic and sedimentary components. The triple-junction and strike-slip-continental groups compositionally overlap; both are more quartzofeldspathic than the other groups and show highly variable lithic proportions, but the strike-slip-continental group is more quartzose. Modal compositions of the triple junction group roughly correlate with the QFL transitional-arc field of Dickinson and others (1983), whereas the strike-slip-continental group approximately correlates with their dissected-arc field.

Basic and other measurements of radiation from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) Station Ny-Ålesund in the years 1992 to 2013, reference list of 253 datasets

At Ny-Ålesund (78.9° N), Svalbard, surface radiation measurements of up- and downward short- and longwave radiation are operated since August 1992 in the frame of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN), complemented with surface and upper air meteorology since August 1993. The long-term observations are the base for a climatological presentation of the surface radiation data. Over the 21-year observation period, ongoing changes in the Arctic climate system are reflected. Particularly, the observations indicate a strong seasonality of surface warming and related changes in different radiation parameters. The annual mean temperature at Ny-Ålesund has risen by +1.3 ± 0.7 K per decade, with a maximum seasonal increase during the winter months of +3.1 ± 2.6 K per decade. At the same time, winter is also the season with the largest long-term changes in radiation, featuring an increase of +15.6 ± 11.6 W/m**2 per decade in the downward longwave radiation. Furthermore, changes in the reflected solar radiation during the months of snow melt indicate an earlier onset of the warm season by about 1 week compared to the beginning of the observations. The online available dataset of Ny-Ålesund surface radiation measurements provides a valuable data source for the validation of satellite instruments and climate models.

Study of the fronts of Johnsons and Hurd Glaciers (Livingston Island, Antarctica) from 1957 to 2013, with links to shapefiles

The study of glacier fronts combines different geomatics measurement techniques as the classic survey using total station or theodolite, technical GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), using laser-scanner or using photogrammetry (air or ground). The measure by direct methods (classical surveying and GNSS) is useful and fast when accessibility to the glaciers fronts is easy, while it is practically impossible to realize, in the case of glacier fronts that end up in the sea (tide water glaciers). In this paper, a methodology that combines photogrammetric methods and other techniques for lifting the front of the glacier Johnsons, inaccessible is studied. The images obtained from the front, come from a non-metric digital camera; its georeferencing to a global coordinate system is performed by measuring points GNSS support in accessible areas of the glacier front side and applying methods of direct intersection in inaccessible points of the front, taking measurements with theodolite. The result of observations obtained were applied to study the temporal evolution (1957-2014) of the position of the Johnsons glacier front and the position of the Argentina, Las Palmas and Sally Rocks lobes front (Hurd glacier).

Reduced calcification and lack of acclimatization by coral colonies growing in areas of persistent natural acidification

As the surface ocean equilibrates with rising atmospheric CO2, the pH of surface seawater is decreasing with potentially negative impacts on coral calcification. A critical question is whether corals will be able to adapt or acclimate to these changes in seawater chemistry. We use high precision CT scanning of skeletal cores of Porites astreoides, an important Caribbean reef-building coral, to show that calcification rates decrease significantly along a natural gradient in pH and aragonite saturation (Omega arag). This decrease is accompanied by an increase in skeletal erosion and predation by boring organisms. The degree of sensitivity to reduced ?arag measured on our field corals is consistent with that exhibited by the same species in laboratory CO2 manipulation experiments. We conclude that the Porites corals at our field site were not able to acclimatize enough to prevent the impacts of local ocean acidification on their skeletal growth and development, despite spending their entire lifespan in low pH, low Omega arag seawater.

Case Study of Applied LIP Approach/Activities in the Philippines The Training Services Enhancement Project for Rural Life Improvement (TSEP-RLI) Experience

TSEP-RLI was a technical cooperation project jointly conducted by GOP thru DA-Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and GOJ thru JICA aimed at institutionalizing the training program for Rural Life Improvement (RLI) at the (ATI). As expected, farmers, fisherfolk, women, youth and extension agents were provided with efficient and effective training services from ATI leading to the improvement of quality of life in the rural areas through efforts of human resource development. The ATI- Bohol was chosen as the model center where participatory trials and various activities of the project were undertaken for five years. These activities were participatory surveys and data collection of on-farm and off-farm productive activities; planning workshop for RLI; feedbacking of survey results and action plans to the community and the Local Government Units (LGUs), and signing of Memorandum of Agreement between the Project and participating LGUs. The above activities were done to facilitate the planning and development of most effective and necessary rural life improvement activities, to confirm the willingness of the people to support and participate and to formalize the partnership between the Project and the LGUs. Since the concept of rural life covers a vast range of activities, a consensus had been reached that the total aspects of rural life be grasped in three spheres, namely, Production & Livelihood (P/L), Rural Living Condition (RLC) and Community Environment (C/E). The RLI for Ubi (Yam) Growers was one of the pilot activities undertaken in two pilot barangays and the target beneficiaries were members of the Rural Improvement Club (RIC- a group of organized women) with the LGU of the Municipality of Corella as the implementing partner. During the planning workshop, the barangay residents articulated their desire to promote production and processing of ubi (sphere on P/L - as the entry point), lack of nutritious food was one of the identified problem (sphere on RLC- expansion point) and environmental degradation such as deforestation, and soil erosion was another problem articulated by the community people (sphere on C/E- expansion point). Major activities that were undertaken namely, Ubi cooking contest, cooking/processing seminar, training courses on entrepreneurial development, ubi production and storage technology, packaging and product design, human resource development and simplified bookkeeping motivated the beneficiaries as well as developed and enhanced their skills & capabilities while strengthening their associations. Their participation to the 5 ubi festivals and other related activities had brought some impacts on their economic and rural life improvement activities. The seven principles of TSEP-RLI include the participatory process, holistic approach, dialogical approach, bottom -up training needs assessment, demand-driven approach, cost sharing approach and collaborative implementation with other agencies including LGUs and the community.

Integration of socioeconomic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of animal genetic resources = Integración de aspectos socioeconómicos y genéticos involucrados en la conservación de recursos genéticos animales

El sector ganadero está siendo gradualmente dominado por sistemas intensivos y especializados en los que los factores de producción están controlados y en los que los caracteres productivos son los criterios principales para la selección de especies y razas. Entretanto, muchos de los bienes y servicios que tradicionalmente suministraba el ganado, tales como los fertilizantes, la tracción animal o materias primas para la elaboración vestimenta y calzado están siendo reemplazados por productos industriales. Como consecuencia de ambos cambios, las razas seleccionadas intensivamente, las cuales están estrechamente ligadas a sistemas agrícolas de alta producción y altos insumos, han desplazado a muchas razas autóctonas, en las que la selección prácticamente ha cesado o es muy poco intensa. Actualmente existe una mayor conciencia social sobre la situación de las razas autóctonas y muchas funciones del ganado que previamente habían sido ignoradas están siendo reconocidas. Desde hace algunas décadas, se ha aceptado internacionalmente que las razas de ganado cumplen funciones económicas, socio-culturales, medioambientales y de seguridad alimentaria. Por ello, diferentes organismos internacionales han reconocido que la disminución de los recursos genéticos de animales domésticos (RGADs) es un problema grave y han recomendado su conservación. Aun así, la conservación de RGADs es un tema controvertido por la dificultad de valorar las funciones del ganado. Esta valoración es compleja debido que los RGADs tiene una doble naturaleza privada - pública. Como algunos economistas han subrayado, el ganado es un bien privado, sin embargo debido a algunas de sus funciones, también es un bien público. De esta forma, el aumento del conocimiento sobre valor de cada una de sus funciones facilitaría la toma de decisiones en relación a su conservación y desarrollo. Sin embargo, esta valoración es controvertida puesto que la importancia relativa de las funciones del ganado varía en función del momento, del lugar, de las especies y de las razas. El sector ganadero, debido a sus múltiples funciones, está influenciado por factores técnicos, medioambientales, sociales, culturales y políticos que están interrelacionados y que engloban a una enorme variedad de actores y procesos. Al igual que las funciones del ganado, los factores que afectan a su conservación y desarrollo están fuertemente condicionados por localización geográfica. Asimismo, estos factores pueden ser muy heterogéneos incluso dentro de una misma raza. Por otro lado, es razonable pensar que el ganadero es el actor principal de la conservación de razas locales. Actualmente, las razas locales están siendo Integration of socioeconomic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of animal genetic resources 5 explotadas por ganaderos muy diversos bajo sistemas de producción también muy diferentes. Por todo ello, es de vital importancia comprender y evaluar el impacto que tienen las motivaciones, y el proceso de toma de decisiones de los ganaderos en la estructura genética de las razas. En esta tesis doctoral exploramos diferentes aspectos sociales, económicos y genéticos involucrados en la conservación de razas locales de ganado vacuno en Europa, como ejemplo de RGADs, esperando contribuir al entendimiento científico de este complejo tema. Nuestro objetivo es conseguir una visión global de los procesos subyacentes en la conservación y desarrollo de estas razas. Pretendemos ilustrar como se pueden utilizar métodos cuantitativos en el diseño y establecimiento de estrategias de conservación y desarrollo de RGADs objetivas y adecuadas. En primer lugar, exploramos el valor económico total (VET) del ganado analizando sus componentes públicos fuera de mercado usando como caso de estudio la raza vacuna Alistana-Sanabresa (AS). El VET de cualquier bien está formado por componentes de uso y de no-uso. Estos últimos incluyen el valor de opción, el valor de herencia y el valor de existencia. En el caso del ganado local, el valor de uso directo proviene de sus productos. Los valores de uso indirecto están relacionados con el papel que cumple las razas en el mantenimiento de los paisajes y cultura rural. El valor de opción se refiere a su futuro uso potencial y el valor de herencia al uso potencial de las generaciones venideras. Finalmente, el valor de existencia está relacionado con el bienestar que produce a la gente saber que existe un recurso específico. Nuestro objetivo fue determinar la importancia relativa que tienen los componentes fuera de mercado sobre el VET de la raza AS. Para ello evaluamos la voluntad de la gente a pagar por la conservación de la AS mediante experimentos de elección (EEs) a través de encuestas. Estos experimentos permiten valorar individualmente los distintos componentes del VET de cualquier bien. Los resultados los analizamos mediante de uso de modelos aleatorios logit. Encontramos que las funciones públicas de la raza AS tienen un valor significativo. Sus valores más importantes son el valor de uso indirecto como elemento cultural Zamorano y el valor de existencia (ambos representaron el 80% de VET). Además observamos que el valor que gente da a las funciones públicas de la razas de ganado dependen de sus características socioeconómicas. Los factores que condicionaron la voluntad a pagar para la conservación de la raza AS fueron el lugar de residencia (ciudad o pueblo), el haber visto animales de la raza o haber consumido sus productos y la actitud de los encuestados ante los conflictos entre el desarrollo económico y el medioambiente. Por otro lado, encontramos que no todo el mundo tiene una visión completa e integrada de todas las funciones públicas de la raza AS. Por este motivo, los programas o actividades de concienciación sobre su estado deberían hacer hincapié en este aspecto. La existencia de valores públicos de la raza AS implica que los ganaderos deberían recibir compensaciones económicas como pago por las funciones públicas que cumple su raza local. Las compensaciones asegurarían un tamaño de población que permitiría que la raza AS siga realizando estas funciones. Un mecanismo para ello podría ser el desarrollo del turismo rural relacionado con la raza. Esto aumentaría el valor de uso privado mientras que supondría un elemento añadido a las estrategias de conservación y desarrollo. No obstante, los ganaderos deben analizar cómo aprovechar los nichos de mercado existentes, así como mejorar la calidad de los productos de la raza prestando especial atención al etiquetado de los mismos. Una vez evaluada la importancia de las funciones públicas de las razas locales de ganado, analizamos la diversidad de factores técnicos, económicos y sociales de la producción de razas locales de ganado vacuno existente en Europa. Con este fin analizamos el caso de quince razas locales de ocho países en el contexto de un proyecto de colaboración internacional. Investigamos las diferencias entre los países para determinar los factores comunes clave que afectan a la viabilidad de las razas locales. Para ello entrevistamos mediante cuestionarios a un total de 355 ganaderos en las quince razas. Como indicador de viabilidad usamos los planes de los ganaderos de variación del tamaño de las ganaderías. Los cuestionarios incluían diferentes aspectos económicos, técnicos y sociales con potencial influencia en las dinámicas demográficas de las razas locales. Los datos recogidos los analizamos mediante distintas técnicas estadísticas multivariantes como el análisis discriminante y la regresión logística. Encontramos que los factores que afectan a la viabilidad de las razas locales en Europa son muy heterogéneos. Un resultado reseñable fue que los ganaderos de algunos países no consideran que la explotación de su raza tenga un alto valor social. Este hecho vuelve a poner de manifiesto la importancia de desarrollar programas Europeos de concienciación sobre la importancia de las funciones que cumplen las razas locales. Además los países analizados presentaron una alta variabilidad en cuanto a la importancia de los mercados locales en la distribución de los productos y en cuanto al porcentaje en propiedad del total de los pastos usados en las explotaciones. Este estudio reflejó la variabilidad de los sistemas y medios de producción (en el sentido socioeconómico, técnico y ecológico) que existe en Europa. Por ello hay que ser cautos en la implementación de las políticas comunes en los diferentes países. También encontramos que la variabilidad dentro de los países puede ser elevada debido a las diferencias entre razas, lo que implica que las políticas nacionales deber ser suficientemente flexibles para adaptarse a las peculiaridades de cada una de las razas. Por otro lado, encontramos una serie de factores comunes a la viabilidad de las razas en los distintos países; la edad de los ganaderos, la colaboración entre ellos y la apreciación social de las funciones culturales, medioambientales y sociales del ganado local. El envejecimiento de los ganaderos de razas locales no es solo un problema de falta de transferencia generacional, sino que también puede suponer una actitud más negativa hacia la inversión en las actividades ganaderas y en una menor capacidad de adaptación a los cambios del sector. La capacidad de adaptación de los ganaderos es un factor crucial en la viabilidad de las razas locales. Las estrategias y políticas de conservación comunes deben incluir las variables comunes a la viabilidad de las razas manteniendo flexibilidad suficiente para adaptarse a las especificidades nacionales. Estas estrategias y políticas deberían ir más allá de compensación económica a los ganaderos de razas locales por la menor productividad de sus razas. Las herramientas para la toma de decisiones ayudan a generar una visión amplia de la conservación y desarrollo de las razas locales. Estas herramientas abordan el diseño de estrategias de conservación y desarrollo de forma sistemática y estructurada. En la tercera parte de la tesis usamos una de estas herramientas, el análisis DAFO (Debilidades, Amenazas, Fortalezas y Oportunidades), con este propósito, reconociendo que la conservación de RGADs depende de los ganaderos. Desarrollamos un análisis DAFO cuantitativo y lo aplicamos a trece razas locales de ganado vacuno de seis países europeos en el contexto del proyecto de colaboración mencionado anteriormente. El método tiene cuatro pasos: 1) la definición del sistema; 2) la identificación y agrupación de los factores influyentes; 3) la cuantificación de la importancia de dichos factores y 4) la identificación y priorización de estrategias. Identificamos los factores utilizando multitud de agentes (multi-stakeholder appproach). Una vez determinados los factores se agruparon en una estructura de tres niveles. La importancia relativa de los cada uno de los factores para cada raza fue determinada por grupos de expertos en RGADs de los países integrados en el citado proyecto. Finalmente, desarrollamos un proceso de cuantificación para identificar y priorizar estrategias. La estructura de agrupación de factores permitió analizar el problema de la conservación desde el nivel general hasta el concreto. La unión de análisis específicos de cada una de las razas en un análisis DAFO común permitió evaluar la adecuación de las estrategias a cada caso concreto. Identificamos un total de 99 factores. El análisis reveló que mientras los factores menos importantes son muy consistentes entre razas, los factores y estrategias más relevantes son muy heterogéneos. La idoneidad de las estrategias fue mayor a medida que estas se hacían más generales. A pesar de dicha heterogeneidad, los factores influyentes y estrategias más importantes estaban ligados a aspectos positivos (fortalezas y oportunidades) lo que implica que el futuro de estas razas es prometedor. Los resultados de nuestro análisis también confirmaron la gran relevancia del valor cultural de estas razas. Las factores internos (fortalezas y debilidades) más importantes estaban relacionadas con los sistemas de producción y los ganaderos. Las oportunidades más relevantes estaban relacionadas con el desarrollo y marketing de nuevos productos mientras que las amenazas más importantes se encontraron a la hora de vender los productos actuales. Este resultado implica que sería fructífero trabajar en la motivación y colaboración entre ganaderos así como, en la mejora de sus capacidades. Concluimos que las políticas comunes europeas deberían centrarse en aspectos generales y ser los suficientemente flexibles para adaptarse a las singularidades de los países y las razas. Como ya se ha mencionado, los ganaderos juegan un papel esencial en la conservación y desarrollo de las razas autóctonas. Por ello es relevante entender que implicación puede tener la heterogeneidad de los mismos en la viabilidad de una raza. En la cuarta parte de la tesis hemos identificado tipos de ganaderos con el fin de entender cómo la relación entre la variabilidad de sus características socioeconómicas, los perfiles de las ganaderías y las dinámicas de las mismas. El análisis se ha realizado en un contexto sociológico, aplicando los conceptos de capital cultural y económico. Las tipologías se han determinado en función de factores socioeconómicos y culturales indicadores del capital cultural y capital económico de un individuo. Nuestro objetivo era estudiar si la tipología socioeconómica de los ganaderos afecta al perfil de su ganadería y a las decisiones que toman. Entrevistamos a 85 ganaderos de la raza Avileña-Negra Ibérica (ANI) y utilizamos los resultados de dichas entrevistas para ilustrar y testar el proceso. Definimos los tipos de ganaderos utilizando un análisis de clúster jerarquizado con un grupo de variables canónicas que se obtuvieron en función de cinco factores socioeconómicos: el nivel de educación del ganadero, el año en que empezó a ser ganadero de ANI, el porcentaje de los ingresos familiares que aporta la ganadería, el porcentaje de propiedad de la tierra de la explotación y la edad del ganadero. La tipología de los ganaderos de ANI resultó ser más compleja que en el pasado. Los resultados indicaron que los tipos de ganaderos variaban en muchos aspectos socioeconómicos y en los perfiles de sus Integration of socioeconomic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of animal genetic resources 9 ganaderías. Los tipos de ganaderos determinados toman diferentes decisiones en relación a la modificación del tamaño de su ganadería y a sus objetivos de selección. Por otro lado, reaccionaron de forma diferente ante un hipotético escenario de reducción de las compensaciones económicas que les planteamos. En este estudio hemos visto que el capital cultural y el económico interactúan y hemos explicado como lo hacen en los distintos tipos de ganaderos. Por ejemplo, los ganaderos que poseían un mayor capital económico, capital cultural formal y capital cultural adquirido sobre la raza, eran los ganaderos cuyos animales tenían una mayor demanda por parte de otros ganaderos, lo cual podría responder a su mayor prestigio social dentro de la raza. Uno de los elementos claves para el futuro de la raza es si este prestigio responde a una superioridad genética de las animales. Esto ocurriría si los ganaderos utilizaran las herramientas que tienen a su disposición a la hora de seleccionar animales. Los tipos de ganaderos identificados mostraron también claras diferencias en sus formas de colaboración y en su reacción a una hipotética variación de las compensaciones económicas. Aunque algunos tipos de ganaderos mostraron un bajo nivel de dependencia a estas compensaciones, la mayoría se manifestaron altamente dependientes. Por ello cualquier cambio drástico en la política de ayudas puede comprometer el desarrollo de las razas autóctonas. La adaptación las políticas de compensaciones económicas a la heterogeneidad de los ganaderos podría aumentar la eficacia de las mismas por lo que sería interesante explorar posibilidades a este respecto. Concluimos destacando la necesidad de desarrollar políticas que tengan en cuenta la heterogeneidad de los ganaderos. Finalmente abordamos el estudio de la estructura genética de poblaciones ganaderas. Las decisiones de los ganaderos en relación a la selección de sementales y su número de descendientes configuran la estructura demográfica y genética de las razas. En la actualidad existe un interés renovado por estudiar las estructuras poblacionales debido a la influencia potencial de su estratificación sobre la predicción de valores genómicos y/o los análisis de asociación a genoma completo. Utilizamos dos métodos distintos, un algoritmo de clústeres basados en teoría de grafos (GCA) y un algoritmo de clustering bayesiano (STRUCTURE) para estudiar la estructura genética de la raza ANI. Prestamos especial atención al efecto de la presencia de parientes cercanos en la población y de la diferenciación genética entre subpoblaciones sobre el análisis de la estructura de la población. En primer lugar evaluamos el comportamiento de los dos algoritmos en poblaciones simuladas para posteriormente analizar los genotipos para 17 microsatélites de 13343 animales de 57 ganaderías distintas de raza ANI. La ANI es un ejemplo de raza con relaciones complejas. Por otro lado, utilizamos el archivo de pedigrí de la raza para estudiar el flujo de genes, calculando, entre otras cosas, la contribución de cada ganadería a la constitución genética de la raza. En el caso de las poblaciones simuladas, cuando el FST entre subpoblaciones fue suficientemente alto, ambos algoritmos, GCA y STRUCTURE, identificaron la misma estructura genética independientemente de que existieran o no relaciones familiares. Por el contrario, cuando el grado de diferenciación entre poblaciones fue bajo, el STRUCTURE identificó la estructura familiar mientras que GCA no permitió obtener ningún resultado concluyente. El GCA resultó ser un algoritmo más rápido y eficiente para de inferir la estructura genética en poblaciones con relaciones complejas. Este algoritmo también puede ser usado para reducir el número de clústeres a testar con el STRUTURE. En cuanto al análisis de la población de ANI, ambos algoritmos describieron la misma estructura, lo cual sugiere que los resultados son robustos. Se identificaron tres subpoblaciones diferenciadas que pudieran corresponderse con tres linajes distintos. Estos linajes estarían directamente relacionados con las ganaderías que han tenido una mayor contribución a la constitución genética de la raza. Por otro lado, hay un conjunto muy numeroso de individuos con una mezcla de orígenes. La información molecular describe una estructura estratificada de la población que se corresponde con la evolución demográfica de la raza. Es esencial analizar en mayor profundidad la composición de este último grupo de animales para determinar cómo afecta a la variabilidad genética de la población de ANI. SUMMARY Summary Livestock sector is gradually dominated by intensive and specialized systems where the production environment is controlled and the production traits are the main criteria for the selection of species and breeds. In the meantime, the traditional use of domestic animals for draught work, clothes and manure has been replaced by industrial products. As a consequence of both these changes, the intensively selected breeds closely linked with high-input highoutput production systems have displaced many native breeds where the selection has practically ceased or been very mild. People are now more aware of the state of endangerment among the native breeds and the previously ignored values of livestock are gaining recognition. For some decades now, the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and food security function of livestock breeds have been accepted worldwide and their loss has been recognized as a major problem. Therefore, the conservation of farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) has been recommended. The conservation of FAnGR is controversial due to the complexity of the evaluation of its functions. This evaluation is difficult due to the nature of FAnGR both as private and public good. As some economists have highlighted, livestock animals are private goods, however, they are also public goods by their functions. Therefore, there is a need to increase the knowledge about the value of all livestock functions since to support the decision-making for the sustainable conservation and breeding of livestock. This is not straightforward since the relative importance of livestock functions depends on time, place, species and breed. Since livestock play a variety of roles, their production is driven by interrelated and everchanging economic, technical, environmental, social, cultural and political elements involving an enormous range of stakeholders. Not only FAnGR functions but also the importance of factors affecting the development and conservation of FAnGR can be very different across geographical areas. Furthermore, heterogeneity can be found even within breeds. Local breeds are nowadays raised by highly diverse farmers in equally diverse farms. It is quite reasonable to think that farmer is the major actor in the in situ conservation of livestock breeds. Thus, there is a need to understand the farmers’ motivations, decision making processes and the impact of their decisions on the genetic structure of breeds. In this PhD thesis we explore different social, economic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of local cattle breeds, i.e. FAnGR, in Europe seeking to contribute to the scientific understanding of this complex issue. We aim to achieve a comprehensive view of the processes involved in the conservation and development of local cattle breeds and have made special efforts in discussing the implications of the research results in this respect. The final outcome of the thesis is to illustrate how quantitative methods can be exploited in designing and establishing sound strategies and programmes for the conservation and development of local livestock breeds. Firstly we explored the public non-market attributes of the total economic value (TEV) of livestock, using the Spanish Alistana-Sanabresa (AS) cattle breed as a case study. Total economic value of any good comprises both use and non-use components, where the latter include option, bequest and existence values. For livestock, the direct use values are mainly stemming from production outputs. Indirect use values relate to the role of livestock as a maintainer of rural culture and landscape. The option value is related to the potential use of livestock, the bequest values relate to the value associated with the inheritance of the resources to future generation and the existence values relate to the utility perceived by people from knowing that specific resources exist. We aimed to determine the relative importance of the non-market components of the TEV of the AS breed, the socio-economic variables that influence how people value the different components of TEV and to assess the implications of the Spanish national conservation strategy for the AS breed. To do so, we used a choice experiment (CE) approach and applied the technique to assess people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of AS breed. The use of CE allows the valuation of the individual components of TEV for a given good. We analysed the choice data using a random parameter logit (RPL) model. AS breed was found to have a significant public good value. Its most important values were related to the indirect use value due to the maintenance of Zamorian culture and the existence value (both represent over 80% of its TEV). There were several socioeconomic variables influencing people’s valuation of the public service of the breed. In the case of AS breed, the place of living (city or rural area), having seen animals of the breed, having eaten breed products and the respondents’ attitude towards economic development – environment conflicts do influence people’s WTP for AS conservation. We also found that people do not have a complete picture of all the functions and roles that AS breed as AnGR. Therefore, the actions for increasing awareness of AS should go to that direction. The farmers will need incentives to exploit some of the public goods values and maintain the breed population size at socially desirable levels. One such mechanism could be related to the development of agritourism, which would enhance the private good value and provide an important addition to the conservation and utilisation strategy. However, the farmers need a serious evaluation on how to invest in niche product development or how to improve product quality and brand recognition. Using the understanding on the importance of the public function of local cattle we tried to depict the current diversity regarding technical, economic and social factors found in local cattle farming across Europe. To do so we focused in an international collaborative project on the case of fifteen local cattle breeds in eight European countries. We investigated the variation among the countries to detect the common key elements, which affect the viability of local breeds. We surveyed with interviews a total of 355 farms across the fifteen breeds. We used the planned herd size changes by the farmer as an indicator of breed viability. The questionnaire included several economic, technical and social aspects with potential influence on breeds’ demographic trends. We analysed the data using multivariate statistical techniques, such as discriminat analysis and logistic regression. The factors affecting a local breed’s viability were highly heterogeneous across Europe. In some countries, farmers did not recognise any high social value attached to keeping a local cattle breed. Hence there is a need to develop communication programmes across EU countries making people aware about the diversity and importance of values associated to raising local breeds. The countries were also very variable regarding the importance of local markets and the percentage of farm land owned by the farmers. Despite the country specificities, there were also common factors affecting the breed viability across Europe. The factors were from different grounds, from social, such as the age of the farmer and the social appreciation of their work, to technicalorganizational, such as the farmers’ attitude to collaborating with each other. The heterogeneity found reflects the variation in breeding systems and production environment (in the socioeconomic, technical and ecological sense) present in Europe. Therefore, caution should be taken in implementing common policies at the country level. Variability could also be rather high within countries due to breed specificities. Therefore, the national policies should be flexible to adapt to the specificities. The variables significantly associated with breed viability should be positively incorporated in the conservation strategies, and considered in developing common and/or national policies. The strategy preparation and policy planning should go beyond the provision of a general economic support to compensate farmers for the lower profitability of local breeds. Of particular interest is the observation that the opportunity for farmer collaboration and the appreciation by the society of the cultural, environmental and social role of local cattle farming were positively associated with the breed survival. In addition, farmer's high age is not only a problem of poor generation transfer but it is also a problem because it might lead to a lower attitude to investing in farming activities and to a lower ability to adapt to environment changes. The farmers’ adaptation capability may be a key point for the viability of local breeds. Decision making tools can help to get a comprehensive view on the conservation and development of local breeds. It allows us to use a systematic and structured approach for identifying and prioritizing conservation and development strategies. We used SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis for this purpose and recognized that many conservation and development projects rely on farmers. We developed a quantified SWOT method and applied it in the aforementioned collaborative research to a set of thirteen cattle breeds in six European countries. The method has four steps: definition of the system, identification and grouping of the driving factors, quantification of the importance of driving factors and identification and prioritization of the strategies. The factors were determined following a multi-stakeholder approach and grouped with a three level structure. FAnGR expert groups ranked the factors and a quantification process was implemented to identify and prioritize strategies. The structure of the SWOT analysis allowed analyzing the conservation problem from general down to specific perspectives. Joining breed specific analyses into a common SWOT analysis permitted comparison of breed cases across countries. We identified 99 driving factors across breeds. The across breed analysis revealed that irrelevant factors were consistent. There was high heterogeneity among the most relevant factors and strategies. The strategies increased eligibility as they lost specificity. Although the situation was very heterogeneous, the most promising factors and strategies were linked to the positive aspects (Strengths and Opportunities). Therefore, the future of the studied local breed is promising. The results of our analysis also confirmed the high relevance of the cultural value of the breeds. The most important internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) were related farmers and production systems. The most important opportunities were found in developing and marketing new products, while the most relevant threats were found in selling the current conventional products. In this regard, it should be fruitful to work on farmers’ motivation, collaboration, and capacity building. We conclude that European policies should focus on general aspects and be flexible enough to be adapted to the country and breed specificities. As mentioned, farmers have a key role in the conservation and development of a local cattle breed. Therefore, it is very relevant to understand the implications of farmer heterogeneity within a breed for its viability. In the fourth part of the thesis, we developed a general farmer typology to help analyzing the relations between farmer features and farm profiles, herd dynamics and farmers’ decision making. In the analysis we applied and used the sociological framework of economic and cultural capital and studied how the determined farmer types were linked to farm profiles and breeding decisions, among others. The typology was based on measurable socioeconomic factors indicating the economic and cultural capital of farmers. A group of 85 farmers raising the Spanish Avileña-Negra Ibérica (ANI) local cattle breed was used to illustrate and test the procedure. The farmer types were defined by a hierarchical cluster analysis with a set of canonical variables derived from the following five the socioeconomic factors: the formal educational level of the farmer, the year the farmer started keeping the ANI breed, the percentage of the total family income covered by the farm, the percentage of the total farm land owned by the farmer and the farmer’s age. The present ANI farmer types were much more complex than what they were in the past. We found that the farmer types differed in many socioeconomic aspects and in the farms profile. Furthermore, the types also differentiate farmers with respect to decisions about changing the farm size, breeding aims and stated reactions towards hypothetical subsidy variation. We have verified that economic and cultural capitals are not independent and further showed how they are interacting in the different farmer types. The farmers related to the types with high economic, institutionalized and embodied cultural capitals had a higher demand of breeding animals from others farmers of the breed, which may be related to the higher social prestige within the breed. One of the key implications of this finding for the future of the breed is whether or not the prestige of farmers is related to genetic superiority of their animals, what is to say, that it is related with a sound use of tools that farmers have available to make selection decisions. The farmer types differed in the form of collaboration and in the reactions to the hypothetical variation in subsidies. There were farmers with low dependency on subsidies, while most of them are highly dependent on subsidies. Therefore, any drastic change in the subsidy programme might have influence on the development of local breeds. The adaptation of these programme to the farmers’ heterogeneity might increase its efficacy, thus it would be interesting to explore ways of doing it. We conclude highlighting the need to have a variety of policies, which take into account the heterogeneity among the farmers. To finish we dealt with the genetic structure of livestock populations. Farmers’ decisions on the breeding animals and their progeny numbers shape the demographic and genetic structure of the breeds. Nowadays there is a renovated interest in studying the population structure since it can bias the prediction of genomic breeding values and genome wide association studies. We determined the genetic structure of ANI breed using two different methods, a graphical clustering algorithm (GCA) and a Bayesian clustering algorithm (STRUCTURE) were used. We paid particular attention to the influence that the presence of closely related individuals and the genetic differentiation of subpopulations may have on the inferences about the population structure. We first evaluated the performance of the algorithms in simulated populations. Then we inferred the genetic structure of the Spanish cattle breed ANI analysing a data set of 13343 animals (genotyped for 17 microsatellites) from 57 herds. ANI breed is an example of a population with complex relationships. We used the herdbook to study the gene flow, estimation among other things, the contribution of different herds to the genetic composition of the ANI breed. For the simulated scenarios, when FST among subpopulations was sufficiently high, both algorithms consistently inferred the correct structure regardless of the presence of related individuals. However, when the genetic differentiation among subpopulations was low, STRUCTURE identified the family based structure while GCA did not provide any consistent picture. The GCA was a fast and efficient method to infer genetic structure to determine the hidden core structure of a population with complex history and relationships. GCA could also be used to narrow down the number of clusters to be tested by STRUCTURE. Both, STRUCTURE and GCA describe a similar structure for the ANI breed suggesting that the results are robust. ANI population was found to have three genetically differentiated clusters that could correspond to three genetic lineages. These are directly related to the herds with a major contribution to the breed. In addition, ANI breed has also a large pool made of individuals with an admixture of origins. The genetic structure of ANI, assessed by molecular information, shows a stratification that corresponds to the demographic evolution of the breed. It will be of great importance to learn more about the composition of the pool and study how it is related to the existing genetic variability of the breed.

Educational innovation applied in the UNESCO chair of mining and industrial heritage

The “Innovatio Educativa Tertio Millennio” group has been 10 years developing educational innovation techniques, actually has reached the level of teaching on the technical teachers has developed, and share them with other groups, that can implement them in their teaching activities. UNESCO Chair of Mining and Industrial Heritage has been years working on heritage, and on the one hand teaching in conservation and maintenance of heritage, and on the other doing raise awareness of the meaning of heritage, the social value and as must be managed effectively. Recently these two groups work together, thus is spreading in a much more effective manner the concepts of heritage, its meaning, its value, and how to manage it and provide effective protection. On one hand being a work of dissemination based on internet and on radio broadcasting, and on the other one of teaching based on educational innovation, and courses, conferences, and face-to-face seminars or distance platforms.

Matrilysin is expressed by lipid-laden macrophages at sites of potential rupture in atherosclerotic lesions and localizes to areas of versican deposition, a proteoglycan substrate for the enzyme.

Certain matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are expressed within the fibrous areas surrounding acellular lipid cores of atherosclerotic plaques, suggesting that these proteinases degrade matrix proteins within these areas and weaken the structural integrity of the lesion. We report that matrilysin and macrophage metalloelastase, two broad-acting MMPs, were expressed in human atherosclerotic lesions in carotid endarterectomy samples (n = 18) but were not expressed in normal arteries (n = 7). In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry revealed prominent expression of matrilysin in cells confined to the border between acellular lipid cores and overlying fibrous areas, a distribution distinct from other MMPs found in similar lesions. Metalloelastase was expressed in these same border areas. Matrilysin was present in lipid-laden macrophages, identified by staining with anti-CD-68 antibody. Furthermore, endarterectomy tissue in organ culture released matrilysin. Staining for versican demonstrated that this vascular proteoglycan was present at sites of matrilysin expression. Biochemical studies showed that matrilysin degraded versican much more efficiently than other MMPs present in atherosclerotic lesions. Our findings suggest that matrilysin, specifically expressed in atherosclerotic lesions, could cleave structural proteoglycans and other matrix components, potentially leading to separation of caps and shoulders from lipid cores.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Post Fire Emergency Rehabilitation Treatments on Soil Degradation and Erosion Control in Semi-Arid Mediterranean Areas of the Spanish South East

In this study, we seeded a native plant species and applied a mulch of chopped wood originating from the same burned area to avoid the establishment of invasive species. We evaluated four treatments: (1) seeding, (2) mulch, (3) seeding and mulch, and (4) control. Our objective was to increase plant recovery and to minimize the soil erosion and degradation. The study was conducted in Alicante, Spain in Torremanzanas forest of the semi-arid Mediterranean bioclimatic area after the wildfire of November, 2002. During three years of monitoring, we find that combined treatment: seeding and mulch increased the post fire plant recovery 20% approximately more than the rest of treatments and the control plots. We also found that seven months after treating mulch and seeding and mulch treatments presented a gain of soil: +5.18 to + 5.24 mm while the seeding treatment and control plots presented soil loss rates of: −0.48 to −0.49 mm. In addition, mulch treatment significantly decreased soil compaction to the half, and increased the infiltration capacity to 40 ml.mn−1 more than in plots without mulch, as well as increased the soil respiration to the double compared with no mulch plots. Work in progress confirms the positive effect of chopped wood as mulching treatment with or without seeding on the soil protection against soil erosion, and the amelioration of bio-physical properties after wildfires in the Mediterranean semi-arid burned areas.

Accurate integration of forced and damped oscillators

The new methods accurately integrate forced and damped oscillators. A family of analytical functions is introduced known as T-functions which are dependent on three parameters. The solution is expressed as a series of T-functions calculating their coefficients by means of recurrences which involve the perturbation function. In the T-functions series method the perturbation parameter is the factor in the local truncation error. Furthermore, this method is zero-stable and convergent. An application of this method is exposed to resolve a physic IVP, modeled by means of forced and damped oscillators. The good behavior and precision of the methods, is evidenced by contrasting the results with other-reputed algorithms implemented in MAPLE.

Engineering abstracts from the current periodical literature of engineering and applied science, published outside the United Kingdom.

No. 26 and 27 issued in combined form.

Eighth International congress of applied chemistry, Washington and New York, September 4 to 13, 1912.

"Members": v. 28, p. 365-463.

A dictionary of applied physics,

Contains bibliographies.