Population characteristics and taxonomy of lantern fishes of genus Diaphus (Family Myctophidae) off south west coast of India

Globally most of the conventional fish stocks have reached a state of optimum exploitation or even over-exploitation; efficient utilization of non-conventional resources is necessary to meet the supply-demand gap for protein supply. Mesopelagic fishes can be considered as one such promising resource for the future, if appropriate harvest and post-harvest technologies are developed. Increasing human population and increasing demand for cheaper food fishes has made myctophids a possible potential resource for future exploitation and utilization. Earlier studies indicated the abundance of Diaphus spp. in the eastern and northeastern Arabian Sea. The present study also indicates the dominance of Diaphus spp. in the deep sea trawling grounds of south west coast of India. Commercial viability of the myctophid fishing in the Indian waters has to be worked out. The present catch estimation is based on the Stratified Random Sampling Method from the landing data. As the coverage of sampling area was limited and the gear efficiency was not standardized, the data generated are not precise. A counter check for the estimates is also not possible due to the absence of comparable works in the study area. Fish biomass estimation by acoustics survey coupled with direct fishing would only confirm the accuracy of estimates. Exploratory surveys for new fishing areas to be continued, for gathering the distribution, abundance, biological and ecological data and map the potential fishing ground on a GIS platform and the data should be provided to the commercial entrepreneurs. Generally non-conventional and non-targeted resources are under low fishing pressure and exploitation rates. Low values of fishing mortality and exploitation rates indicate that removal from the stock by fishing was only nominal from the present fishing grounds. The results indicate that the stock is almost at virgin state and remains grossly underexploited. Since the extent of distribution and abundance of the stock in the ecosystem remains to be ascertained, sustainable yield could not be estimated. Also the impact of myctophids harvest, on other commercially important fishes, has to be studied.

Studies on Selected Myctophid Fishes in Arabian Sea with respect to their Status in Deep Sea Trawl Bycatch, Length-Weight Relationship, Reproductive Biology and Population Dynamics

Available information on abundance of myctophids and their utilisation indicate that there is excellent scope for development of myctophid fisheries in Indian Ocean. Most of the conventional fish stocks have reached a state of full exploitation or over-exploitation. Hence there is need to locate new and conventional fishery resources in order to fill in the supply-demand gap, in the face of increasing demand for fish. Information on length-weight relationship, age and growth, spawning season, fecundity and age at maturity and information on bycatch discards are required for sustainable utilization of myctophid resource in the Indian Ocean

Entwicklung der Windenergietechnik in Deutschland und der Einfluss staatlicher Förderpolitik - Technikentwicklung in den 90er Jahren zwischen Markt und Forschungsförderung

Seit gut zehn Jahren erlebt die Windenergienutzung in Deutschland einen in der Mitte der 80er Jahre nicht für möglich gehaltenen Aufschwung. Anlagenanzahl und installierte Leistung haben in diesem Zeitraum mit durchschnittlichen jährlichen Wachstumsraten von mehr als 30 Prozent zugenommen, die mittlere installierte Leistung pro neu errichteter Anlage stieg dabei um das Zehnfache und die technische Verfügbarkeit der Anlagen liegt mittlerweile bei über 98 Prozent. Mit größer werdenden Anlagen zeigt sich weiterhin ein klarer Trend zu Blattwinkel verstellbaren Konzepten, mit zunehmend drehzahlvariabler Betriebsweise. Vor dem von Vielen für die kommenden drei bis sechs Jahre prognostizierten Einstieg in die großtechnische Offshore- Windenergienutzung mit den damit verbundenen immensen technologischen und strukturellen Herausforderungen erscheint es sinnvoll, einen kritischen Blick zurückzuwerfen auf die 90er Jahre mit den ihnen zugrunde liegenden förderpolitischen Rahmenbedingungen. Dabei soll die Frage beantwortet werden, welchen konkreten Einfluss die staatlichen Forschungs- und Förderprogramme, besonders das "250 MW Wind"-Programm, auf die Entwicklung der Windenergienutzung hatten, das heißt, unter welchen Bedingungen sich bestimmte Techniklinien durchsetzten, wie der Einfluss eines geschützten Marktes durch gesetzlich garantierte Einspeisetarife auf diese Entwicklung zu bewerten ist und schließlich, welche Fehlentwicklungen möglicher Weise eingetreten sind. Dazu wird mit Hilfe von Lernkurven gezeigt, welche Kostenreduktionen insgesamt erzielt wurden, wie hoch die dazu notwendigen staatlichen Finanzmittel waren und welche Schlussfolgerungen daraus für die Zukunft abgeleitet werden können. Die Arbeit soll insgesamt dazu beitragen, die erreichten technischen Entwicklungsschritte vor dem Hintergrund der förderpolitischen Gegebenheiten besser zu verstehen, Chancen für gezielte Änderungen in der Förderpraxis zu ergreifen und Hinweise auf die Ausgestaltung von zukünftigen Forschungsprogrammen und Entwicklungsschwerpunkten im Bereich der Windenergie zu geben, um weitere Kostensenkungspotenziale auszuschöpfen. Dabei wird sich die zukünftige Schwerpunktsetzung in der programmatischen Ausrichtung der Forschung stärker auf die drei wichtigsten Anwendungsfelder für Windenergieanlagen konzentrieren müssen, die großtechnische Offshore- Anwendung, die netzgebundene, dezentrale Energieversorgung sowie auf Windenergieanlagen zur ländlichen Elektrifizierung in autonomen Versorgungssystemen für Schwellen- und Entwicklungsländer.

Rechenmodelle und Informationssysteme zur Integration großer Windleistungen in die elektrische Energieversorgung

In dieser Arbeit werden verschiedene Computermodelle, Rechenverfahren und Methoden zur Unterstützung bei der Integration großer Windleistungen in die elektrische Energieversorgung entwickelt. Das Rechenmodell zur Simulation der zeitgleich eingespeisten Windenergie erzeugt Summenganglinien von beliebig zusammengestellten Gruppen von Windenergieanlagen, basierend auf gemessenen Wind- und Leistungsdaten der nahen Vergangenheit. Dieses Modell liefert wichtige Basisdaten für die Analyse der Windenergieeinspeisung auch für zukünftige Szenarien. Für die Untersuchung der Auswirkungen von Windenergieeinspeisungen großräumiger Anlagenverbünde im Gigawattbereich werden verschiedene statistische Analysen und anschauliche Darstellungen erarbeitet. Das im Rahmen dieser Arbeit entwickelte Modell zur Berechnung der aktuell eingespeisten Windenergie aus online gemessenen Leistungsdaten repräsentativer Windparks liefert wertvolle Informationen für die Leistungs- und Frequenzregelung der Netzbetreiber. Die zugehörigen Verfahren zur Ermittlung der repräsentativen Standorte und zur Überprüfung der Repräsentativität bilden die Grundlage für eine genaue Abbildung der Windenergieeinspeisung für größere Versorgungsgebiete, basierend auf nur wenigen Leistungsmessungen an Windparks. Ein weiteres wertvolles Werkzeug für die optimale Einbindung der Windenergie in die elektrische Energieversorgung bilden die Prognosemodelle, die die kurz- bis mittelfristig zu erwartende Windenergieeinspeisung ermitteln. In dieser Arbeit werden, aufbauend auf vorangegangenen Forschungsarbeiten, zwei, auf Künstlich Neuronalen Netzen basierende Modelle vorgestellt, die den zeitlichen Verlauf der zu erwarten Windenergie für Netzregionen und Regelzonen mit Hilfe von gemessenen Leistungsdaten oder prognostizierten meteorologischen Parametern zur Verfügung stellen. Die softwaretechnische Zusammenfassung des Modells zur Berechnung der aktuell eingespeisten Windenergie und der Modelle für die Kurzzeit- und Folgetagsprognose bietet eine attraktive Komplettlösung für die Einbindung der Windenergie in die Leitwarten der Netzbetreiber. Die dabei entwickelten Schnittstellen und die modulare Struktur des Programms ermöglichen eine einfache und schnelle Implementierung in beliebige Systemumgebungen. Basierend auf der Leistungsfähigkeit der Online- und Prognosemodelle werden Betriebsführungsstrategien für zu Clustern im Gigawattbereich zusammengefasste Windparks behandelt, die eine nach ökologischen und betriebswirtschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten sowie nach Aspekten der Versorgungssicherheit optimale Einbindung der geplanten Offshore-Windparks ermöglichen sollen.

Causes of legume rotation induced yield increases in cereals grown on West African soils

This study was conducted to investigate soil biological and chemical factors that give rise to cereal yield enhancing effects of legume rotations on sandy, nutrient poor West African soils. The aim was not only to gain more information on the role of legume residues and microorganisms in the soil nutrient cycle. But the study aimed at evaluating if differences in substrate qualities (e.g. root residues) cause changes in the microbial community structure due to specific and highly complex microbe-root-soil interactions. Site and system specific reactions of microorganisms towards rewetting, simulating the onset of rainy season, were observed. Higher respiration rates, higher amounts of microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and nitrogen (Nmic) as well as higher ergosterol, muramic acid, glucosamine and adenylate concentrations were measured in CL soils of Koukombo and in both soils from Fada. The immediate increase in ATP concentrations after rewetting was likely caused by rehydration of microbial cells where N was not immobilized and, thus, available for plants facilitating their rapid development. Legume root residues led only to slightly better plant performances compared to the control, while the application of cereal roots reduced seedling growth. In contrast to sorghum seedlings, the microbial community did not react to the mineral treatment. Thus the energy supply in form of organic amendments increased microbial indices compared to mineral P application and the control. The results of basal respiration rates, Cmic and Corg levels indicate that the microbial community in the soil from Koukombo is less efficient in substrate use compared to microorganisms in the soil from Fada. However, the continuous carbon input by legume root residues might have contributed to these differences in soil fertility. With the 33P isotopic exchange method a low buffering capacity was detected in both soils irrespective of treatments. Calculated E values (E1min to E1min-1d and E1d-3m) indicated a slowly release of P due to root turnover while applied mineral P is taken up by plants or fixed to the soil. Due to the fact that sorghum growth reacted mainly to the application of mineral P and the microorganisms solely to the organic inputs, the combination of both amendments seems to be the best approach to a sustainable increase of crop production on many nutrient-poor, sandy West African soils. In a pot experiment, were CC and CL soils from Fada and Koukombo were adjusted to the same level of P and N concentrations, crop growth was significantly higher on CL soils, compared to the respective treatments on CC soils. Mycorrhizal infection of roots was increased and the number of nematodes, predominantly free living nematodes, was almost halfed on rotation soils. In conclusion, increased nutrient availability (especially P and N) through the introduction of legumes is not the only reason for the observed yield increasing effects. Soil biological factors seem to also play an important role. In a root chamber experiment the pH gradient along the root-soil-interface was measured at three times using an antimony microelectrode. For Fada soils, pH values were higher on CL than CC soils while the opposite was true for the Koukombo soils. Site-specific differences between Fada and Koukombo soils in N content and microbial community structures might have created varying crop performances leading to the contrasting pH findings. However, the mechanisms involved in this highly complex microbe-root-soil interaction remain unclear.

MERCARTE

Este proyecto propone innovar en la creación de estrategias de mercado con el fin de promover las obras de arte de jóvenes artistas a través de espacios virtuales y físicos en la ciudad de Bucaramanga y el oriente colombiano.

Análisis del abastecimiento energético como factor de complementariedad de las relaciones bilaterales entre Brasil y Bolivia durante el periodo 2006-2009

Análisis del abastecimiento energético como factor de complementariedad de las relaciones bilaterales entre Brasil y Bolivia durante el periodo 2006-2009. Teniendo en cuenta la nacionalización de hidrocarburos en Bolivia en el 2006 y las repercusiones que trajo consigo dicha nacionalización para Brasil, afectando los lazos bilaterales entre ambos países dado el abastecimiento de gas natural hacia la zona sudeste de Brasil.

Modelación de los sectores estudiados para definir el perfil logístico de Colombia

Colombia siempre ha velado por tener una mejor infraestructura del país, haciendo que se mantenga preocupado por su posición competitiva frente a su desarrollo como hub logístico de Latinoamérica. Esto se ve fundamentado a través de la política nacional logística escrita en el COMPES 3547. Sin embargo, hay un desconocimiento por los empresarios grandes y pequeños del país acerca de las pretensiones que el gobierno quiere llevar a cabo sobre los distintos sectores económicos. La simulación de estructuras como sistemas es de vital importancia para el desarrollo y mejoramiento de cadenas de suministro. La administración de la cadena como sistema que integra procesos permite producir constantemente, mantener niveles adecuados de inventario y cumplir con los requerimientos del cliente final. Lo anterior teniendo en cuenta que los principales actores de la cadena son proveedores, fabricantes, clientes, detallistas, transportadores y distribuidores, En un entorno en el que la globalización constituye quizá el motor más importante para el desempeño de la cadena de suministros, pues rompe barreras geográficas. En síntesis la simulación es un aporte importante para la correcta planeación y operación de la cadena de suministros y esto a la vez permite prestar un buen servicio al cliente mientras se reducen costos y tiempos.

Incidencia de la estrategia colombiana de desarrollo bajo en carbono en el mercado de bonos de carbono en Colombia

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo principal determinar el papel de la estrategia colombiana de desarrollo bajo en carbono en el mercado de bonos de carbono en Colombia. Esto con el fin de demostrar que las acciones nacionalmente apropiadas de mitigación NAMAS son un mecanismo de mitigación y puede no tener una incidencia en la oferta ni tampoco en la demanda del mercado de bonos de carbono en Colombia. Esta investigación se llevará a cabo por medio de un estudio de caso con un enfoque institucionalista. Se utilizará el método de investigación cualitativo, ya que se intenta medir las cualidades de la estrategia colombiana de desarrollo bajo en carbono mediante un análisis documental, teniendo como referencia las fuentes primarias; el Conpes 3700 de 2011, entrevistas a expertos del Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, Fundación Natura, ConTREEbute, Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburra, y fuentes secundarias, entre otras.

Productos del sector agrícola colombiano y derivados que tienen oportunidad de ser vendidos en el mercado de la Federación Rusa

Este trabajo tuvo como fin identificar los productos del sector agrícola colombiano y derivados que tienen oportunidad de ser vendidos en el mercado de la Federación Rusa. Esto con el objetivo de tener un documento para los exportadores colombianos donde puedan consultar las oportunidades de negocio que tiene el sector y que pueden ser explotadas. El trabajo se adelantó mediante la consulta de fuentes de información terciaria, como los sitios web de distintas asociaciones, información de los importadores y la consulta a expertos sobre el tema. De esta forma, se logró recopilar la información adecuada para el desarrollo de los objetivos trazados. Fue clave identificar la relación entre el consumo ruso y la importación de productos agrícolas, como también, la producción rusa y la exportación de productos agrícolas. Se tomó a la Federación Rusa, por ser uno de los países que más importa productos alimenticios. De esta manera, se ahondó en las particularidades del mercado ruso, lo que permitió tener un mejor entendimiento sus negocios y sus hábitos de consumo y así poder analizarlo de una mejor manera. Este trabajo muestra los componentes principales que se deben tener en cuenta para la exportación de productos agrícolas, de la misma forma analiza la oferta, demanda y el papel de Colombia y la Federación Rusa en la venta y compra de este tipo de productos.

Nitrogen recycling through the gut and the nitrogen economy of ruminants: An asynchronous symbiosis

The extensive development of the ruminant forestomach sets apart their N economy from that of nonruminants in a number of respects. Extensive pregastric fermentation alters the profile of protein reaching the small intestine, largely through the transformation of nitrogenous compounds into microbial protein. This process is fueled primarily by carbohydrate fermentation and includes extensive recycling of N between the body and gut lumen pools. Nitrogen recycling occurs via blood and gut lumen exchanges of urea and NH3, as well as endogenous gut and secretory N entry into the gut lumen, and the subsequent digestion and absorption of microbial and endogenous protein. Factors controlling urea transfer to the gut from blood, including the contributions of urea transporters, remain equivocal. Ammonia produced by microbial degradation of urea and dietary and endogenous AA is utilized by microbial fermentation or absorbed and primarily converted to urea. Therefore, microbial growth and carbohydrate fermentation affect the extent of NH3 absorption and urea N recycling and excretion. The extensive recycling of N to the rumen represents an evolutionary advantage of the ruminant in terms of absorbable protein supply during periods of dietary protein deficiency, or asynchronous carbohydrate and protein supply, but incurs a cost of greater N intakes, especially in terms of excess N excretion. Efforts to improve the efficiency of N utilization in ruminants by synchronizing fermentable energy and N availability have generally met with limited success with regards to production responses. In contrast, imposing asynchrony through oscillating dietary protein concentration, or infrequent supplementation, surprisingly has not negatively affected production responses unless the frequency of supplementation is less than once every 3 d. In some cases, oscillation of dietary protein concentration has improved N retention compared with animals fed an equal amount of dietary protein on a daily basis. This may reflect benefits of Orn cycle adaptations and sustained recycling of urea to the gut. The microbial symbiosis of the ruminant is inherently adaptable to asynchronous N and energy supply. Recycling of urea to the gut buffers the effect of irregular dietary N supply such that intuitive benefits of rumen synchrony in terms of the efficiency of N utilization are typically not observed in practice.

Adapting to climate change impacts on water resources in England - an assessment of draft Water Resources Management Plans

Climate change is expected to produce reductions in water availability in England, potentially necessitating adaptive action by the water industry to maintain supplies. As part of Ofwat's fifth Periodic Review (PR09), water companies recently released their draft Water Resources Management Plans, setting out how each company intends to maintain the balance between the supply and demand for water over the next 25 years, following Environment Agency guidelines. This paper reviews these plans to determine company estimates of the impact of climate change on water supply relative to other resource pressures. The approaches adopted for incorporating the impact in the plans and the proposed management solutions are also identified. Climate change impacts for individual resource zones range from no reductions in deployable output to greater than 50% over the planning period. The estimated national aggregated loss of deployable output under a “core” climate scenario is ~520 Ml/d (3% of deployable output) by 2034/35, the equivalent of the supply of one entire water company (South West Water). Climate change is the largest single driver of change in water supplies over the planning period. Over half of the climate change impact is concentrated in southern England. In extreme cases, climate change uncertainty is of the same magnitude as the change under the core scenario (up to a loss of ~475 Ml/d). 44 of the 68 resource zones with available data are estimated to have a climate change impact. In 35 of these climate change has the greatest impact although in 10 zones sustainability reductions have a greater impact. Of the overall change in downward pressure on the supply-demand balance over the planning period, ~56% is accounted for by increased demand (620 Ml/d) and supply side climate change accounts for ~37% (407 Ml/d). Climate change impacts have a cumulative impact in concert with other changing supply side reducing components increasing the national pressure on the supply-demand balance. Whilst the magnitude of climate change appears to justify its explicit consideration, it is rare that adaptation options are planned solely in response to climate change but as a suite of options to provide a resilient supply to a range of pressures (including significant demand side pressures). Supply-side measures still tend to be considered by water companies to be more reliable than demand-side measures.

Case study on the whole life carbon cycle in buildings

Global temperatures are expected to rise by between 1.1 and 6.4oC this century, depending, to a large extent, on the amount of carbon we emit to the atmosphere from now onwards. This warming is expected to have very negative effects on many peoples and ecosystems and, therefore, minimising our carbon emissions is a priority. Buildings are estimated to be responsible for around 50% of carbon emissions in the UK. Potential reductions involve both operational emissions, produced during use, and embodied emissions, produced during manufacture of materials and components, and during construction, refurbishments and demolition. To date the major effort has focused on reducing the, apparently, larger operational element, which is more readily quantifiable and reduction measures are relatively straightforward to identify and implement. Various studies have compared the magnitude of embodied and operational emissions, but have shown considerable variation in the relative values. This illustrates the difficulties in quantifying embodied, as it requires a detailed knowledge of the processes involved in the different life cycle phases, and requires the use of consistent system boundaries. However, other studies have established the interaction between operational and embodied, which demonstrates the importance of considering both elements together in order to maximise potential reductions. This is borne out in statements from both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and The Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team of the UK Government. In terms of meeting the 2020 and 2050 timeframes for carbon reductions it appears to be equally, if not more, important to consider early embodied carbon reductions, rather than just future operational reductions. Future decarbonisation of energy supply and more efficient lighting and M&E equipment installed in future refits is likely to significantly reduce operational emissions, lending further weight to this argument. A method of discounting to evaluate the present value of future carbon emissions would allow more realistic comparisons to be made on the relative importance of the embodied and operational elements. This paper describes the results of case studies on carbon emissions over the whole lifecycle of three buildings in the UK, compares four available software packages for determining embodied carbon and suggests a method of carbon discounting to obtain present values for future emissions. These form the initial stages of a research project aimed at producing information on embodied carbon for different types of building, components and forms of construction, in a simplified form, which can be readily used by building designers in optimising building design in terms of minimising overall carbon emissions. Keywords: Embodied carbon; carbon emission; building; operational carbon.

The gut microbiota elicits a profound metabolic reorientation in the mouse jejunal mucosa during conventionalisation

Objective: Proper interactions between the intestinal mucosa, gut microbiota and nutrient flow are required to establish homoeostasis of the host. Since the proximal part of the small intestine is the first region where these interactions occur, and since most of the nutrient absorption occurs in the jejunum, it is important to understand the dynamics of metabolic responses of the mucosa in this intestinal region.Design: Germ-free mice aged 8-10 weeks were conventionalised with faecal microbiota, and responses of the jejunal mucosa to bacterial colonisation were followed over a 30-day time course. Combined transcriptome, histology, (1)H NMR metabonomics and microbiota phylogenetic profiling analyses were used.Results: The jejunal mucosa showed a two-phase response to the colonising microbiota. The acute-phase response, which had already started 1 day after conventionalisation, involved repression of the cell cycle and parts of the basal metabolism. The secondary-phase response, which was consolidated during conventionalisation (days 4-30), was characterised by a metabolic shift from an oxidative energy supply to anabolic metabolism, as inferred from the tissue transcriptome and metabonome changes. Detailed transcriptome analysis identified tissue transcriptional signatures for the dynamic control of the metabolic reorientation in the jejunum. The molecular components identified in the response signatures have known roles in human metabolic disorders, including insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.Conclusion: This study elucidates the dynamic jejunal response to the microbiota and supports a prominent role for the jejunum in metabolic control, including glucose and energy homoeostasis. The molecular signatures of this process may help to find risk markers in the declining insulin sensitivity seen in human type 2 diabetes mellitus, for instance.

Whole life carbon – a building case study

There is potential to reduce both operational and embodied greenhouse gas emission from buildings. To date the focus has been on reducing the operational element, although given the urgency of carbon reductions, it may be more beneficial to consider upfront embodied carbon reductions. This paper describes a case study on the whole life carbon cycle of a warehouse building in Swindon, UK. It examines the relationship between embodied carbon (Ec) and operational carbon (Oc), the proportions of Ec from the structural and non-structural elements, carbon benchmarking of the structure, the value of ‘cradle to site’ or ‘cradle to grave’ assessments and the significance of the timing of emissions during the life of the building. The case study indicates that Ec was dominant for the building and that the structure was responsible for more than half of the Ec. Weighting of future emissions appears to be an important factor to consider. The PAS 2050 reduction factors had only a modest effect but weighting to allow for future decarbonisation of the national grid energy supply had a large effect. This suggests that future operational carbon emissions are being overestimated compared to embodied.