Community-managed forests and wildlife-friendly agriculture play a subsidiary but not substitutive role to protected areas for the endangered Asian elephant

Global conservation policy is increasingly debating the feasibility of reconciling wildlife conservation and human resource requirements in land uses outside protected areas (PAs). However, there are few quantitative assessments of whether or to what extent these `wildlife-friendly' land uses fulfill a fundamental function of PAs-to separate biodiversity from anthropogenic threats. We distinguish the role of wildlife-friendly land uses as being (a) subsidiary, whereby they augment PAs with secondary habitat, or (b) substitutive, wherein they provide comparable habitat to PAs. We tested our hypotheses by investigating the influence of land use and human presence on space-use intensity of the endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in a fragmented landscape comprising PAs and wildlife-friendly land uses. We applied multistate occupancy models to spatial data on elephant occurrence to estimate and model the overall probability of elephants using a site, and the conditional probability of high-intensity use given that elephants use a site. The probability of elephants using a site regardless of intensity did not vary between PAs and wildlife-friendly land uses. However, high-intensity use declined with distance to PM, and this effect was accentuated by an increase in village density. Therefore, while wildlife-friendly land uses did play a subsidiary conservation role, their potential to substitute for PAs was offset by a strong human presence. Our findings demonstrate the need to evaluate the role of wildlife-friendly land uses in landscape-scale conservation; for species that have conflicting resource requirements with people, PAs are likely to provide crucial refuge from growing anthropogenic threats. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Co-benefits, trade-offs, barriers and policies for greenhouse gas mitigation in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector

The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for approximately 25% of anthropogenic GHG emissions mainly from deforestation and agricultural emissions from livestock, soil and nutrient management. Mitigation from the sector is thus extremely important in meeting emission reduction targets. The sector offers a variety of cost-competitive mitigation options with most analyses indicating a decline in emissions largely due to decreasing deforestation rates. Sustainability criteria are needed to guide development and implementation of AFOLU mitigation measures with particular focus on multifunctional systems that allow the delivery of multiple services from land. It is striking that almost all of the positive and negative impacts, opportunities and barriers are context specific, precluding generic statements about which AFOLU mitigation measures have the greatest promise at a global scale. This finding underlines the importance of considering each mitigation strategy on a case-by-case basis, systemic effects when implementing mitigation options on the national scale, and suggests that policies need to be flexible enough to allow such assessments. National and international agricultural and forest (climate) policies have the potential to alter the opportunity costs of specific land uses in ways that increase opportunities or barriers for attaining climate change mitigation goals. Policies governing practices in agriculture and in forest conservation and management need to account for both effective mitigation and adaptation and can help to orient practices in agriculture and in forestry towards global sharing of innovative technologies for the efficient use of land resources. Different policy instruments, especially economic incentives and regulatory approaches, are currently being applied however, for its successful implementation it is critical to understand how land-use decisions are made and how new social, political and economic forces in the future will influence this process.

PROPER HOLOMORPHIC MAPS BETWEEN BOUNDED SYMMETRIC DOMAINS REVISITED

We prove that a proper holomorphic map between two nonplanar bounded symmetric domains of the same dimension, one of them being irreducible, is a biholomorphism. Our methods allow us to give a single, all-encompassing argument that unifies the various special cases in which this result is known. We discuss an application of these methods to domains having noncompact automorphism groups that are not assumed to act transitively.

Dendritic atrophy constricts functional maps in resonance and impedance properties of hippocampal model neurons

A gradient in the density of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic-nucleotide gated (HCN) channels is necessary for the emergence of several functional maps within hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Here, we systematically analyzed the impact of dendritic atrophy on nine such functional maps, related to input resistance and local/transfer impedance properties, using conductance-based models of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. We introduced progressive dendritic atrophy in a CA1 pyramidal neuron reconstruction through a pruning algorithm, measured all functional maps in each pruned reconstruction, and arrived at functional forms for the dependence of underlying measurements on dendritic length. We found that, across frequencies, atrophied neurons responded with higher efficiency to incoming inputs, and the transfer of signals across the dendritic tree was more effective in an atrophied reconstruction. Importantly, despite the presence of identical HCN-channel density gradients, spatial gradients in input resistance, local/transfer resonance frequencies and impedance profiles were significantly constricted in reconstructions with dendrite atrophy, where these physiological measurements across dendritic locations converged to similar values. These results revealed that, in atrophied dendritic structures, the presence of an ion channel density gradient alone was insufficient to sustain homologous functional maps along the same neuronal topograph. We assessed the biophysical basis for these conclusions and found that this atrophy-induced constriction of functional maps was mediated by an enhanced spatial spread of the influence of an HCN-channel cluster in atrophied trees. These results demonstrated that the influence fields of ion channel conductances need to be localized for channel gradients to express themselves as homologous functional maps, suggesting that ion channel gradients are necessary but not sufficient for the emergence of functional maps within single neurons.

Seismic hazard maps and spectrum for Patna considering region-specific seismotectonic parameters

The objective of this paper was to develop the seismic hazard maps of Patna district considering the region-specific maximum magnitude and ground motion prediction equation (GMPEs) by worst-case deterministic and classical probabilistic approaches. Patna, located near Himalayan active seismic region has been subjected to destructive earthquakes such as 1803 and 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquakes. Based on the past seismicity and earthquake damage distribution, linear sources and seismic events have been considered at radius of about 500 km around Patna district center. Maximum magnitude (M (max)) has been estimated based on the conventional approaches such as maximum observed magnitude (M (max) (obs) ) and/or increment of 0.5, Kijko method and regional rupture characteristics. Maximum of these three is taken as maximum probable magnitude for each source. Twenty-seven ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are found applicable for Patna region. Of these, suitable region-specific GMPEs are selected by performing the `efficacy test,' which makes use of log-likelihood. Maximum magnitude and selected GMPEs are used to estimate PGA and spectral acceleration at 0.2 and 1 s and mapped for worst-case deterministic approach and 2 and 10 % period of exceedance in 50 years. Furthermore, seismic hazard results are used to develop the deaggregation plot to quantify the contribution of seismic sources in terms of magnitude and distance. In this study, normalized site-specific design spectrum has been developed by dividing the hazard map into four zones based on the peak ground acceleration values. This site-specific response spectrum has been compared with recent Sikkim 2011 earthquake and Indian seismic code IS1893.

NON-DIMENSIONAL KINETOELASTOSTATIC MAPS FOR COMPLIANT MECHANISMS

How do we assess the capability of a compliant mechanism of given topology and shape? The kinetoelastostatic maps proposed in this paper help answer this question. These maps are drawn in 2D using two non-dimensional quantities, one capturing the nonlinear static response and the other the geometry, material, and applied forces. Geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis is used to create the maps for compliant mechanisms consisting of slender beams. In addition to the topology and shape, the overall proportions and the proportions of the cross-sections of the beam segments are kept fixed for a map. The finite region of the map is parameterized using a non-dimensional quantity defined as the slenderness ratio. The shape and size of the map and the parameterized curves inside it indicate the complete kinetoelastostatic capability of the corresponding compliant mechanism of given topology, shape, and fixed proportions. Static responses considered in this paper include input/output displacement, geometric amplification, mechanical advantage, maximum stress, etc. The maps can be used to compare mechanisms, to choose a suitable mechanism for an application, or re-design as may be needed. The usefulness of the non-dimensional maps is presented with multiple applications of different variety. Non-dimensional portrayal of snap-through mechanisms is one such example. The effect of the shape of the cross-section of the beam segments and the role of different segments in the mechanism as well as extension to 3D compliant mechanisms, the cases of multiple inputs and outputs, and moment loads are also explained. The effects of disproportionate changes on the maps are also analyzed.

Caracterización y evaluación preliminar de catorce accesiones de chile (Capsicum spp.)

La presente investigación se llevó a cabo en el Programa de Recursos Genéticos Nicaraguenses (REGEN) de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, durante el período Octubre 2002-Abril-2003, teniendo como principal objetivo contribuir al desarrollo y mejoramiento de la actividad productiva en el cultivo del chile (Capsicum spp.) en Nicaragua. El material genético estuvo formado por genotipos procedentes de México (Chile Ancho, Catarina, Serrano, Mirasol, Arbol, Puya, Guajillo y Cascabel), de Nicaragua (Pico de pájaro, Diente de perro y Jalapeño), de Perú (Alfilerillo y Bacatum) y Pakistán (Canica). Se construyó una base de datos con 44 descriptores cualitativos y cuantitativos de 14 genotipos. Como base se empleó la guía de descriptores propuesta por el IBPGR (1983). Las parcelas experimentales estuvieron constituidas por nueve plantas con dos réplicas de las cuales se tomaron dos plantas por parcela para la recolección de los datos. Fueron empleadas herramientas estadísticas univariadas y multivariadas. El ANDEVA y Tukey (∞=0.05) aplicados a los descriptores cuantitativos demostró una alta significancia estadística estableciéndose clara diferencia entre los genotipos; las accesiones Bacatum, Diente de perro, Pico de pájaro, Alfilerillo y Ancho manifestaron una amplia variación. El análisis de componentes principales determinó que los descriptores de fruto, semillas y flor contribuyeron a que los tres primeros componentes principales aislaran el 68.09 % de la variación general conformada por 28 variables. De igual manera, el análisis de conglomerados (Ward, coeficiente R2 semiparcial) fijó cuatro grupos a una distancia de 0.125, este análisis aglutina a los cultivares de la siguiente forma: Primer grupo (Bacatum), segundo grupo (Diente de perro y Pico de pájaro), y el tercer grupo (Guajillo, Mirasol, Cascabel, Chile Ancho y Jalapeño) y el cuarto grupo (Alfilerillo, Catarina, Serrano, Canica, Arbol y Puya). Los cultivares evaluados presentan características morfológicas de C. annum, C. frutescens y C. baccatum. Con respecto a la caracterización del germoplasma a enfermedades se observó una alta incidencia de infección viral. La mayoría de los genotipos mostraron altos niveles de severidad; sin embargo los materiales Alfilerillo, Canica y Diente de perro mostraron valores de severidad menores del 20%. Respecto al ataque de picudo se pudo observar que Puya, Pico de pájaro y Diente de perro mostraron un nivel de daño severo mientras que los genotipos Cascabel,Jalapeño, Guajillo, Alfilerillo yChile Ancho no mostraron daño.

Incidencia de mosca blanca (Bemisia tabaci Genn) y Picudo (Anthonomus eugenii cano) en cinco genotipos de chile (Capsicum ssp)

Este trabajo se realizó en el período comprendido entre noviembre 2003 y abril 2004, en el área experimental del programa de Recursos Genéticos Nicaragüenses(REGEN), de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, ubicado en el km 12 ½ Carretera Norte con el objetivo de evaluar cinco genotipos de chile (Capsicum ssp.), a la infestación natural de las principales plagas. Los genotipos evaluados fueron CANICA1, CANICA2, ALFILERILLO, DIENTE PERRO Y MIRASOL; se utilizó un diseño de Bloques Completos al Azar (BCA). Las variables evaluadas fueron: incidencia de mosca blanca, incidencia y severidad de virosis, incidencia de picudo,número de frutos por planta, número de frutos anormales y rendimiento (kg ha-1).Para identificar características entre los genotipos, se realizó análisis de varianza y separación de medias (Tukey α=0.05). Los resultados indicaron que para todas las variables evaluadas existen diferencias significativas. El mayor promedio de mosca blanca la obtuvo el genotipo CANICA2 y el menor el genotipo MIRASOL. En cuanto a la incidencia de virosis el menor valor lo presentó CANICA1 y el mayor DIENTE PERRO. El genotipo con mayor severidad por infección viral fue MIRASOL y el menor valor promedio en CANICA1. Para la variable número de frutos por planta, los genotipos MIRASOL y ALFILERILLO promediaron los menores y mayores valores promedio, respectivamente. En cuanto a frutos deformes el menor promedio lo obtuvo CANICA1 y el mayor DIENTE PERRO. Los mayores rendimientos fueron alcanzados por los genotipos DIENTE PERRO (944.4 kg ha-1) y CANICA2 (941 kg ha-1) y el menor valor al genotipo ALFILERILLO con un rendimiento de 368.8 kg ha-1.

Caracterización y evaluación preliminar de 14 accesiones de Chile (Capsicum spp)

La presente investigación se llevó a cabo en el Programa de Recursos Genéticos Nicaragüenses (REGEN) de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, durante el período Octubre 2002-Abril-2003. El objetivo fue estudiar y evaluar gennoplasma nativo e introducido de chile {Capsicum spp.) en condiciones del trópico seco de Nicaragua. La caracterización de las 14 accesiones en base a la guía de descriptores propuesta por IBPGR (lt¡83) y mediante el análisis estadístico univariado y multivariados permitió identificar los principales descriptores cualitatí vos ( fonna del fruto, pungencía y forma del fruto en la unión con el pedúnculo) y cuantitativos (diámetro de semillas, diámetro del fruto y peso del fruto) que son de gran utilidad para el estudio de la variación genética de chile. Además se logró conformar un catálogo con las características de cada uno de los material.es. Las accesiones de mayor variación fueron Bacatum, Diente de perro, Pico de pájaro, Alfilerillo y Chile ancho. El resto de materiales tienen características más uniformes. Las accesiones evaluadas presentaron características morfológicas propias de las especies C. annuum, C. frutescens y C. baccatum. En el germopla.sma de Capsicum evaluado se encontraron materiales que poseen diferente reacción a plagas y enfermedades. Palabras claves: Capsicum; accesión; germoplasma; descriptor.

Synchronous chaos in the coupled system of two logistic maps

Synchronous chaos is investigated in the coupled system of two Logistic maps. Although the diffusive coupling admits all synchronized motions, the stabilities of their configurations are dependent on the transverse Lyapunov exponents while independent of the longitudinal Lyapunov exponents. It is shown that synchronous chaos is structurally stable with respect to the system parameters. The mean motion is the pseudo-orbit of an individual local map so that its dynamics can be described by the local map. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Constituições dos países do Mercosul : 1996-2000 : textos constitucionais Argentina, Bolívia, Brasil, Chile, Paraguai e Uruguai

Contém a memória, regulamento interno, resoluções e atas dos encontros do Parlamento Cultural do MERCOSUL e textos constitucionais dos países membros e associados do MERCOSUL.