Description of three new species of Moenkhausia (Teleostei, Characiformes, Characidae) with the definition of the Moenkhausia jamesi species complex

From the examination of extensive comparative material currently identified as M. jamesi we verified that there are, at least, three new species under this name. These, along with M. jamesi and M. justae, form what we herein called the M. jamesi species complex, by sharing the following group of characters: a short maxilla, with its distal margin not exceeding anterior third of the second infraorbital; first through third teeth of the inner row of premaxilla and first and second dentary teeth with cusps arranged in a pronounced arch, humeral spot positioned between the fourth and seventh scales of the lateral line and extending up to four scale rows above the lateral line and one scale row below the lateral line, and a vertically oval to round spot at the base of the caudal fin rays. Moenkhausia ischyognatha sp. n., from Rio Xingu basin, differs from the other species of the complex by its lower head depth. Moenkhausia alesis sp. n., from the river system Tocantins-Araguaia, differs from M. jamesi, M. ischyognatha, and M. sthenosthoma by the number of scale rows above the lateral line. Moenkhausia sthenosthoma sp. n., from the Rio Madeira basin, differs from M. jamesi by the number of scale rows between the lateral line and the midventral scale series. Moenkhausia justae can be diagnosed from the other species of the complex by having a tri to pentacuspidate tooth on the maxilla.

Experimental comparative study on vortex-induced motion (VIM) of a monocolumn platform

An analysis methodology is presented as well as a comparison of results obtained from vortex-induced motion (VIM) model tests of the MonoGoM platform, a monocolumn floating unit designed for the Gulf of Mexico. The choice of scale between the model and the platform in which the tests took place was a very important issue that took into account the basin dimensions and mooring design. The tests were performed in three different basins: the IPT Towing Tank in Brazil (Sept. 2005), the NMRI Model Ship Experimental Towing Tank in Japan (Mar. 2007), and the NMRI Experimental Tank in Japan (Jun. 2008). The purpose is to discuss the most relevant issues regarding the concept, execution, and procedures to comparatively analyze the results obtained from VIM model tests, such as characteristic motion amplitudes, motion periods, and forces. The results pointed out the importance of considering the 2DOF in the model tests, i.e., the coexistence of the motions in both in-line and transverse directions. The approach employed in the tests was designed to build a reliable data set for comparison with theoretical and numerical models for VIM prediction, especially that of monocolumn platforms. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4003494]

On scale-mixture Birnbaum-Saunders distributions

We present for the first time a justification on the basis of central limit theorems for the family of life distributions generated from scale-mixture of normals. This family was proposed by Balakrishnan et al. (2009) and can be used to accommodate unexpected observations for the usual Birnbaum-Saunders distribution generated from the normal one. The class of scale-mixture of normals includes normal, slash, Student-t, logistic, double-exponential, exponential power and many other distributions. We present a model for the crack extensions where the limiting distribution of total crack extensions is in the class of scale-mixture of normals. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antecedents of the Intent to Recommend: a problem with fast food restaurants

The fast and strong social and economic transformations in the economies of many countries has raised the competition for consumers. One of the elements required to adapt to such scenario is knowing customers and their perceptions about products or services, mainly regarding word of mouth recommendations. This study adapts, to the fast food business, a model originally designed to analyze the antecedents of the intent to recommend by clients of formal restaurants. Three constructs were considered: service quality, satisfaction, and social well-being, the latter comprised of positive and negative affections. Six hypotheses were considered, three of which relating to social well-being (that it influences satisfaction, service quality, and the intent to recommend), two relating to service quality (that in influences the intent to recommend and satisfaction), and one relating to the influence of satisfaction on the intent to recommend. None was rejected, indicating adherence and adjustment of the simplication and adaptation of the consolidated model. Through a successful empirical application, the main contribution made by this research is the simplification of a model through its application in a similar context, but with a different scope.

An Analysis of Living Conditions in Rural Villages in China. A New Geography of the Country.

Analysts, politicians and international players from all over the world look at China as one of the most powerful countries on the international scenario, and as a country whose economic development can significantly impact on the economies of the rest of the world. However many aspects of this country have still to be investigated. First the still fundamental role played by Chinese rural areas for the general development of the country from a political, economic and social point of view. In particular, the way in which the rural areas have influenced the social stability of the whole country has been widely discussed due to their strict relationship with the urban areas where most people from the countryside emigrate searching for a job and a better life. In recent years many studies have mostly focused on the urbanization phenomenon with little interest in the living conditions in rural areas and in the deep changes which have occurred in some, mainly agricultural provinces. An analysis of the level of infrastructure is one of the main aspects which highlights the principal differences in terms of living conditions between rural and urban areas. In this thesis, I first carried out the analysis through the multivariate statistics approach (Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis) in order to define the new map of rural areas based on the analysis of living conditions. In the second part I elaborated an index (Living Conditions Index) through the Fuzzy Expert/Inference System. Finally I compared this index (LCI) to the results obtained from the cluster analysis drawing geographic maps. The data source is the second national agricultural census of China carried out in 2006. In particular, I analysed the data refer to villages but aggregated at province level.

Spatial and temporal analysis of land cover and landscape structure change in Zagros Forests

The Zagros oak forests in Western Iran are critically important to the sustainability of the region. These forests have undergone dramatic declines in recent decades. We evaluated the utility of the non-parametric Random Forest classification algorithm for land cover classification of Zagros landscapes, and selected the best spatial and spectral predictive variables. The algorithm resulted in high overall classification accuracies (>85%) and also equivalent classification accuracies for the datasets from the three different sensors. We evaluated the associations between trends in forest area and structure with trends in socioeconomic and climatic conditions, to identify the most likely driving forces creating deforestation and landscape structure change. We used available socioeconomic (urban and rural population, and rural income), and climatic (mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature) data for two provinces in northern Zagros. The most correlated driving force of forest area loss was urban population, and climatic variables to a lesser extent. Landscape structure changes were more closely associated with rural population. We examined the effects of scale changes on the results from spatial pattern analysis. We assessed the impacts of eight years of protection in a protected area in northern Zagros at two different scales (both grain and extent). The effects of protection on the amount and structure of forests was scale dependent. We evaluated the nature and magnitude of changes in forest area and structure over the entire Zagros region from 1972 to 2009. We divided the Zagros region in 167 Landscape Units and developed two measures— Deforestation Sensitivity (DS) and Connectivity Sensitivity (CS) — for each landscape unit as the percent of the time steps that forest area and ECA experienced a decrease of greater than 10% in either measure. A considerable loss in forest area and connectivity was detected, but no sudden (nonlinear) changes were detected at the spatial and temporal scale of the study. Connectivity loss occurred more rapidly than forest loss due to the loss of connecting patches. More connectivity was lost in southern Zagros due to climatic differences and different forms of traditional land use.

INVESTIGATING THE IMPACTS OF STREAMBED HABITAT HETEROGENEITY ON ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES USING BASIC AND APPLIED PERSPECTIVES

Stream restoration often focuses on increasing habitat heterogeneity to reverse ecosystem degradation. However, the connection between heterogeneity and ecosystem structure and processes is poorly understood. We looked to investigate this interaction from both applied and basic science perspectives. For the applied study, we examined two culvert replacements designed to mimic natural stream channels, to see if they were better at maintaining ecosystem processes within as well as upstream and downstream of culverts compared to non-replaced culverts. We measured three ecosystem processes (nutrient uptake, hydrologic characteristics, and coarse particulate organic matter retention) and found that stream simulation culvert restoration improved organic matter retention within culverts, and that there were no differences in processes measured upstream and downstream of both restoration designs. Our results suggest that measurements of ecosystem processes are more likely to show a response to restoration if they match the scale of the restoration activity. For the basic science study, we quantified the longitudinal spatial heterogeneity of physical and biofilm characteristics at microhabitat to segment scales on streams with different streambed variability. We found that all physical characteristics and biofilm characteristics were spatially independent at the macro-habitat scale and greater. Together, these studies demonstrate the importance of scale in ecological interactions and the value of incorporating considerations of scale into restoration activities.

The Implementation of Full-time Schools: The Situation in the Federal State of Sao Paulo (Brazil)

During the past years, Brazil has been mentioned internationally as a one of the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China). These countries have been taking increasing space in the economical and political global scenarios in the XXI century. The facts that they possess a vast territory and stand among the highest populated countries increase their relevance within the United Nations. Besides, three of them constitute nuclear powers and two of them belong to the United Nations Security Council. Brazil has significantly participated in forums such as WTO and UNO, representing central political articulation and stability to Latin America and in the structuring and growth of MERCOSUL (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela). Once again among the ten greatest economies of the world, the country has launched ambitious poverty-fighting programs helping more than 20 million people in the last years, such as the “Bolsa Família” (Familienstipendium) Program or and its complements). Nevertheless, Latin American countries are far from generating structural funds as the “European Social Fund” to assist specific demands of big cities as Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. The commitments are restricted to commercial areas and bring nothing but slow and scarce advances to education or infra-structure and to the integration of systems related to these areas.

Contribution to the Energy Efficiency and Environmental Compatibility of Cranes for Inland Waterway/ Feeder Ship Handling

Basis for the economic efficiency of international supply chains rests on the efficiency of multimodal transport chains. Materials and products are transported along the edges of transport networks with the forwarder endeavouring to maximize the transport efficiency by using the effects of scale along the edges. The network nodes provide the means to have the goods transferred between the means of transport. Whilst purely economic criteria were initially the driving force for a change in the means of transport, ecological requirements are now becoming ever more relevant. The transportation chains should not only be economically presentable but also it makes sense for them to have a “green footprint”. In this context the following considerations will deal with the transfer processes within the network nodes, especially those within inland and feeder terminals. Replies are to be given to the questions as to how far the choice of the crane primary drive has an impact on energy consumption and environmental compatibility of handling the goods and which additional benefit does the recuperation of engrained energies bring during the handling process.

Scales of justice in water governance: hydropower controversies in Switzerland

One significant challenge for the operationalization of water justice arises from the many dynamic scales involved. In this paper we explore the scalar dimension of justice in water governance through the insights derived from empirical research on hydropower production in the Swiss Alps and the application of the geographical concept of politics of scale. More specifically, we investigate how different actors frame the justice problem, the scales that they invoke and which actors consequently get included or excluded in their justice assessments. This study shows that there is no ideal scale for justice evaluations; whichever scale is used, some actors and justice claims are included whereas others are excluded. This is particularly true when using Fraser’s trivalent concept of justice, taking into account issues of distribution, recognition and participation where each calls for its own set of scales. Moreover, focusing on the politics of scale framing, our study reveals that the justice claim itself can become a power element. Consequently, to achieve more just water governance, there is not only a need for debate and negotiations about the conceptions and meanings of justice in a specific context, there is also a need for debate about the relevance and implications of divergent scales involved in justice claims.

Impacts of Technology Adoption: Comparing Returns to the Farming Sector in Maine under Alternative Technology Regimes

This thesis tests if certain technology choices are associated with a reduction in the proportion of farming activities in the agro-food system in Maine. Goodman, Sorj, and Wilkinson define appropriationism as the replacement of farming sector activities by industrial inputs. Based on the concept of appropriationism, industrial fanning systems using large amounts of synthetic inputs contribute less to fanning than more agrarian systems, like organic fanning. Thus, returns to the farming sector should be greater for organic compared with conventional potato fanning in Maine since organic farming uses fewer industrial inputs. Goodman et. al. define substitutionism as the displacement of farming sector commodities and activities by industrial processes in the marketing sector. Based on the concept of substitutionism, returns to the farming sector should be greater for Lay's Classic®™ potato chips made from natural potatoes compared with Baked Lay's®™ potato crisps manufactured from processed dehydrated potatoes. Returns to the farming sector are defined as returns to the farmer or farm family from farming activities, returns to farm labor, and returns to farmers and farm labor producing inputs used on the farm. Results show absolute returns to the farming sector are less for organic compared to conventional tablestock potato farms in Maine. However as a proportion of farm revenues, large organic farms that market at least 25% of their produce to retail stores or directly to consumers do as well as conventional farms. When comparing returns as a proportion of consumer expenditures, these organic farms do better than conventional farms. Returns to the farming sector are less for organic because of yield penalties, cost of marketing services, and diseconomies of size for organic tablestock potato farms. Expanding acreage and reintegrating livestock with cropping systems may increase returns to the fanning sector. Organic farming demonstrates difficulties in providing marketing services at the farm level. Providing marketing services limits the ability to expand production to capture economies of size. Maine organic potato farmers emphasize non-monetary values such as supporting sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency, the intrinsic value of work, and close community and family connections. Returns to the farming sector as a proportion of consumer expenditures are about three times greater for Lay's Classic®™ potato chips than for Baked Lay's®™ potato crisps, since the value that farmers receive for potatoes used to produce dehydrated potato flakes in one pound of crisps is about half of the value that farmers receive for potatoes used to make one pound of chips. However, this assumes farmers assign a cost to producing low-grade potatoes for dehydration proportionate to their value. Premium potatoes are used to produce potato chips. Low-grade potatoes are used to produce the dehydrated potato flakes used to make potato crisps. Returns to the farming sector are slightly greater for potato crisps if no costs are allocated to producing low-grade potatoes for dehydration. A shift in consumer preferences from potato chips to crisps may result in a geographical shift of potato production from Maine to the Pacific Northwest assuming no food-grade dehydration facilities are built in Maine.

Production of Ethanol from Hardwood

Diminishing crude oil and natural gas supplies, along with concern about greenhouse gas are major driving forces in the search for efficient renewable energy sources. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to energy and useful chemicals is a component of the solution. Ethanol is most commonly produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates to simple sugars followed by fermentation using yeast. C6Hl0O5 + H2O −Enxymes→ C6H12O6 −Yeast→ 2CH3CH2OH + 2C02 In the U.S. corn is the primary starting raw material for commercial ethanol production. However, there is insufficient corn available to meet the future demand for ethanol as a gasoline additive. Consequently a variety of processes are being developed for producing ethanol from biomass; among which is the NREL process for the production of ethanol from white hardwood. The objective of the thesis reported here was to perform a technical economic analysis of the hardwood to ethanol process. In this analysis a Greenfield plant was compared to co-locating the ethanol plant adjacent to a Kraft pulp mill. The advantage of the latter case is that facilities can be shared jointly for ethanol production and for the production of pulp. Preliminary process designs were performed for three cases; a base case size of 2205 dry tons/day of hardwood (52 million gallons of ethanol per year) as well as the two cases of half and double this size. The thermal efficiency of the NREL process was estimated to be approximately 36%; that is about 36% of the thermal energy in the wood is retained in the product ethanol and by-product electrical energy. The discounted cash flow rate of return on investment and the net present value methods of evaluating process alternatives were used to evaluate the economic feasibility of the NREL process. The minimum acceptable discounted cash flow rate of return after taxes was assumed to be 10%. In all of the process alternatives investigated, the dominant cost factors are the capital recovery charges and the cost of wood. The Greenfield NREL process is not economically viable with the cost of producing ethanol varying from $2.58 to $2.08/gallon for the half capacity and double capacity cases respectively. The co-location cases appear more promising due to reductions in capital costs. The most profitable co-location case resulted in a discounted cash flow rate of return improving from 8.5% for the half capacity case to 20.3% for the double capacity case. Due to economy of scale, the investments become more and more profitable as the size of the plant increases. This concept is limited by the amount of wood that can be delivered to the plant on a sustainable basis as well as the demand for ethanol within a reasonable distance of the plant.

Land Inheritance Rules: Theory and Cross-Cultural Analysis

This paper develops a general theory of land inheritance rules. We distinguish between two classes of rules: those that allow a testator discretion in disposing of his land (like a best-qualified rule), and those that constrain his choice (like primogeniture). The primary benefit of the latter is to prevent rent seeking by heirs, but the cost is that testators cannot make use of information about the relative abilities of his heirs to manage the land. We also account for the impact of scale economies in land use. We conclude by offering some empirical tests of the model using a cross-cultural sample of societies.