Identifying regions for conservation of sloth bears through occupancy modelling in north-eastern Karnataka, India

In the absence of information on species in decline with contracting ranges, management should emphasize remaining populations and protection of their habitats. Threatened by anthropogenic pressure including habitat degradation and loss, sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) in India have become limited in range, habitat, and population size. We identified ecological and anthropogenic determinants of occurrence within an occupancy framework to evaluate habitat suitability of non-protected regions (with sloth bears) in northeastern Karnataka, India. We employed a systematic sampling methodology to yield presence absence data to examine a priori hypotheses of determinants that affected occupancy. These covariates were broadly classified as habitat or anthropogenic factors. Mean number of termite mounds and trees positively influenced sloth bear occupancy, and grazing pressure expounded by mean number of livestock dung affected it negatively. Also, mean percentage of shrub coverage had no impact on bear inhabitance. The best fitting model further predicted habitats in Bukkasagara, Agoli, and Benakal reserved forests to have 38%, 75%, and 88%, respectively, of their sampled grid cells with high occupancies (>0.70) albeit little or no legal protection. We recommend a conservation strategy that includes protection of vegetation stand-structure, maintenance of soil moisture, and enrichment of habitat for the long-term welfare of this species.

Combined inhalation and oral supplementation of Vitamin A and Vitamin D: A possible prevention and therapy for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is continuing as a problem of mankind. With evolution, MDR and XDR forms of tuberculosis have emerged from drug sensitive strain. MDR and XDR strains are resistant to most of the antibiotics, making the management more difficult. BCG vaccine is not providing complete protection against tuberculosis. Therefore new infections are spreading at a tremendous rate. At the present moment there is experimental evidence to believe that Vitamin A and Vitamin D has anti-mycobacterial property. It is in this context, we have hypothesized a host based approach using the above vitamins that can cause possible prevention and cure of tuberculosis with minimal chance of resistance or toxicity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Algorithm for Nonparametric Sequential Detection

We consider nonparametric sequential hypothesis testing problem when the distribution under the null hypothesis is fully known but the alternate hypothesis corresponds to a general family of distributions. We propose a simple algorithm to address the problem. Its performance is analysed and asymptotic properties are proved. The simulated and analysed performance of the algorithm is compared with an earlier algorithm addressing the same problem with similar assumptions. Finally, we provide a justification for our model motivated by a Cognitive Radio scenario and modify the algorithm for optimizing performance when information about the prior probabilities of occurrence of the two hypotheses is available.

Factors affecting distribution of fish within a tidally drained mangrove forest in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Mangrove forests in meso-tidal areas are completely drained during low tides, forming only temporary habitats for fish. We hypothesised that in such temporary habitats, where stranding risks are high, distance from tidal creeks that provided access to inundated areas during receding tides would be the primary determinant of fish distribution. Factors such as depth, root density and shade were hypothesised to have secondary effects. We tested these hypotheses in a tidally drained mangrove patch in the Andaman Islands, India. Using stake nets, we measured fish abundance and species richness relative to distance from creeks, root density/m(2), shade, water depth and size (total length) of fish. We also predicted that larger fish (including potential predators) would be closer to creeks, as they faced a greater chance of mortality if stranded. Thus we conducted tethering trials to examine if predation would be greater close to the creeks. Generalised linear mixed effects models showed that fish abundance was negatively influenced by increasing creek distance interacting with fish size and positively influenced by depth. Quantile regression analysis showed that species richness was limited by increasing creek distance. Proportion of predation was greatest close to the creeks (0-25 m) and declined with increasing distance. Abundance was also low very close to the creeks, suggesting that close to the creeks predation pressure may be an important determinant of fish abundance. The overall pattern however indicates that access to permanently inundated areas, may be an important determinant of fish distribution in tidally drained mangrove forests.

Bacterial growth rate and host factors as determinants of intracellular bacterial distributions in systemic Salmonella enterica infections.

Bacteria of the species Salmonella enterica cause a range of life-threatening diseases in humans and animals worldwide. The within-host quantitative, spatial, and temporal dynamics of S. enterica interactions are key to understanding how immunity acts on these infections and how bacteria evade immune surveillance. In this study, we test hypotheses generated from mathematical models of in vivo dynamics of Salmonella infections with experimental observation of bacteria at the single-cell level in infected mouse organs to improve our understanding of the dynamic interactions between host and bacterial mechanisms that determine net growth rates of S. enterica within the host. We show that both bacterial and host factors determine the numerical distributions of bacteria within host cells and thus the level of dispersiveness of the infection.

Campylobacter jejuni colonization and transmission in broiler chickens: a modelling perspective.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of acute enteritis in the developed world. The consumption of contaminated poultry, where C. jejuni is believed to be a commensal organism, is a major risk factor. However, the dynamics of this colonization process in commercially reared chickens is still poorly understood. Quantification of these dynamics of infection at an individual level is vital to understand transmission within populations and formulate new control strategies. There are multiple potential routes of introduction of C. jejuni into a commercial flock. Introduction is followed by a rapid increase in environmental levels of C. jejuni and the level of colonization of individual broilers. Recent experimental and epidemiological evidence suggest that the celerity of this process could be masking a complex pattern of colonization and extinction of bacterial strains within individual hosts. Despite the rapidity of colonization, experimental transmission studies exhibit a highly variable and unexplained delay time in the initial stages of the process. We review past models of transmission of C. jejuni in broilers and consider simple modifications, motivated by the plausible biological mechanisms of clearance and latency, which could account for this delay. We show how simple mathematical models can be used to guide the focus of experimental studies by providing testable predictions based on our hypotheses. We conclude by suggesting that competition experiments could be used to further understand the dynamics and mechanisms underlying the colonization process. The population models for such competition processes have been extensively studied in other ecological and evolutionary contexts. However, C. jejuni can potentially adapt phenotypically through phase variation in gene expression, leading to unification of ecological and evolutionary time-scales. For a theoretician, the colonization dynamics of C. jejuni offer an experimental system to explore these 'phylodynamics', the synthesis of population dynamics and evolutionary biology.

Versiones cronísticas de las enfances de Rodrigo: ¿prosificación o reescritura?

Resumen: El estudio de la relación entre poesía épica cidiana y prosa historiográfica ha estado enfocado mayormente en el Poema de Mio Cid. Las conclusiones extraídas del análisis de las versiones cronísticas de las hazañas del héroe en su madurez suelen extrapolarse al caso de la leyenda del héroe joven. Aunque los principales estudiosos, desde Menéndez Pidal hasta Diego Catalán, no han dejado de señalar las particularidades de la épica tardía y de la producción cronística postalfonsí, no ha habido, desde la tesis doctoral de Samuel Armistead hace más de medio siglo, un estudio específico del proceso de escritura que conllevó el aprovechamiento historiográfico del cantar de gesta tardío conocido como Mocedades de Rodrigo. El presente trabajo asume esa tarea y pretende formular nuevas hipótesis sobre la vieja cuestión de la relación textual entre el poema conservado y los relatos incluidos en la Crónica de Castilla y la Crónica General de 1344, así como sobre el discutido punto de la prioridad cronológica de estas versiones

Aproximación a las causas de la desigualdad económica

Resumen: El siguiente ensayo buscará presentar un enfoque alternativo al problema de la desigualdad económica. Abarcando cuestiones relacionadas con el análisis macroeconómico del desarrollo económico, la distribución de la renta entre trabajadores; la visión regional de la economía y las conexiones internacionales del desarrollo. Para ello, se establecieron como hipótesis el crecimiento económico y la inflación. Además, se analizará el impacto de un aumento en la PEA sobre la distribución del ingreso. Para terminar, el autor arribará a numerosas conclusiones, entre ellas, la dicotomía entre corto y largo plazo para la inflación, el aumento de la desigualdad ante el aumento del PBI en países subdesarrollados, y la relación inversa entre la PEA y el Índice de Gini.

La orientación al mercado y el rendimiento empresarial: el caso de la banca comercial española

[ES] En este trabajo se pretende estudiar las consecuencias de la orientación al mercado sobre el rendimiento empresarial. En concreto se propone un modelo donde los efectos de la OM sobre la rentabilidad se manifiestan a través de otras variables mediadoras de resultados. La investigación empírica se realiza en el sector de la banca comercial española y se utiliza los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para la contrastación de las hipótesis propuestas.

PICES-GLOBEC International Program on Climate Change and Carrying Capacity: Report of 2001 BASS/MODEL, MONITOR and REX Workshops, and the 2002 MODEL/REX Workshop

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.22 Mb] Executive Summary [pdf, 0.31 Mb] Report of the 2001 BASS/MODEL Workshop [pdf, 0.65 Mb] To review ecosystem models for the subarctic gyres Report of the 2001 MONITOR Workshop [pdf, 0.7 Mb] To review ecosystem models for the subarctic gyres Workshop presentations: Sonia D. Batten PICES Continuous Plankton Recorder pilot project Phillip R. Mundy GEM (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council`s "Gulf Ecosystem Monitoring" initiative) and U.S. GOOS plans in the North Pacific Ron McLaren and Brian O`Donnell A proposal for a North Pacific Action group of the international Data Buoy Cooperation Panel Gilberto Gaxiola-Castrol and Sila Najera-Martinez The Mexican oceanographic North Pacific program: IMECOCAL Sydney Levitus Building global ocean profile and plankton databases for scientific research Report of the 2001 REX Workshop [pdf, 1.73 Mb] On temporal variations in size-at-age for fish species in coastal areas around the Pacific Rim Workshop presentations: Brian J. Pyper, Randall M. Peterman, Michael F. Lapointe and Carl J. Walters [pdf, 0.33 Mb] Spatial patterns of covariation in size-at-age of British Columbia and Alaska sockeye salmon stocks and effects of abundance and ocean temperature R. Bruce MacFarlane, Steven Ralston, Chantell Royer and Elizabeth C. Norton [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Influences of the 1997-1998 El Niño and 1999 La Niña on juvenile Chinook salmon in the Gulf of the Farallones Olga S. Temnykh and Sergey L. Marchenko [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Variability of the pink salmon sizes in relation with abundance of Okhotsk Sea stocks Ludmila A. Chernoivanova, Alexander N. Vdoven and D.V. Antonenko [pdf, 0.3 Mb] The characteristic growth rate of herring in Peter the Great Bay (Japan/East Sea) Nikolay I. Naumenko [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Temporal variations in size-at-age of the western Bering Sea herring Evelyn D. Brown [pdf, 0.45 Mb] Effects of climate on Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, in the northern Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound, Alaska Jake Schweigert, Fritz Funk, Ken Oda and Tom Moore [pdf, 0.6 Mb] Herring size-at-age variation in the North Pacific Ron W. Tanasichuk [pdf, 0.3 Mb] Implications of variation in euphausiid productivity for the growth, production and resilience of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) from the southwest coast of Vancouver Island Chikako Watanabe, Ahihiko Yatsu and Yoshiro Watanabe [pdf, 0.3 Mb] Changes in growth with fluctuation of chub mackerel abundance in the Pacific waters off central Japan from 1970 to 1997 Yoshiro Watanabe, Yoshiaki Hiyama, Chikako Watanabe and Shiro Takayana [pdf, 0.35 Mb] Inter-decadal fluctuations in length-at-age of Hokkaido-Sakhalin herring and Japanese sardine in the Sea of Japan Pavel A. Balykin and Alexander V. Buslov [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Long-term variability in length of walley pollock in the western Bering Sea and east Kamchtka Alexander A. Bonk [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Effect of population abundance increase on herring distribution in the western Bering Sea Sergey N. Tarasyuk [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Survival of yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera Pallas) in the northern part of the Tatar Strait (Sea of Japan) during the second half of the 20th century Report of the 2002 MODEL/REX Workshop [pdf, 1.2 Mb] To develop a marine ecosystem model of the North Pacific Ocean including pelagic fishes Summary and Overview [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Workshop presentations: Bernard A. Megrey, Kenny Rose, Francisco E. Werner, Robert A. Klumb and Douglas E. Hay [pdf, 0.47 Mb] A generalized fish bioenergetics/biomass model with an application to Pacific herring Robert A. Klumb [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Review of Clupeid biology with emphasis on energetics Douglas E. Hay [pdf, 0.47 Mb] Reflections of factors affecting size-at-age and strong year classes of herring in the North Pacific Shin-ichi Ito, Yutaka Kurita, Yoshioki Oozeki, Satoshi Suyama, Hiroya Sugisaki and Yongjin Tian [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Review for Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) study under the VENFISH project lexander V. Leonov and Gennady A. Kantakov [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Formalization of interactions between chemical and biological compartments in the mathematical model describing the transformation of nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon and carbon compounds Herring group report and model results [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Saury group report and model results [pdf, 0.46 Mb] Model experiments and hypotheses Recommendations [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Achievements and future steps Acknowledgements [pdf, 0.29 Mb] References [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Appendix 1. List of Participants [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Appendices 2-5. FORTRAN codes [pdf, 0.4 Mb] (Document pdf contains 182 pages)

Valoración de la Cooperación Inter-empresarial en las Microempresas del Municipio de Murcia, proyectos Micro y e-Micro (2002-2007)

[ES] El marco teórico del trabajo tiene como finalidad explicar los procesos de cooperación diseñados para las microempresas, con el propósito de establecer propuestas y argumentos para la formación de acuerdos, identificar los factores que afectan el desarrollo de los mismos, así como los sistemas de innovación nacional, regional y local para la animación de la cooperación entre firmas. Con ello, se propone una metodología para promover la cooperación entre microempresas, coordinada por agentes locales y la administración pública de los proyectos Micro y e-Micro (2002-2007) de la ciudad de Murcia.

La expansión internacional de la industria vitivinícola chilena. Estudio empírico de los factores y nivel exportador

[ES] Este trabajo propone una serie de factores como determinantes del nivel de expansión internacional de la industria vitivinícola chilena: i) tamaño de la empresa; ii) gestión de la calidad; iii) tecnologías de la información y la comunicación; iv) planificación de la gestión internacional, y finalmente, v) adaptación de la estrategia de marketing internacional. El contraste empírico sobre la base de datos de exportación de la industria vitivinícola chilena entre los años 2004 y 2007, permitió confirmar seis de las siete hipótesis planteadas. Este estudio concluye con un apartado destinado a resumir las principales contribuciones teóricas y prácticas, así como las limitaciones y futuras líneas de investigación.

Estudio de la relación entre el compromiso organizativo y la intención de abandonar la organización: Modelo de dos componentes de compromiso de continuidad

[ES] El objetivo de este artículo es presentar evidencias empíricas sobre dos cuestiones aún abiertas en la investigación sobre el compromiso organizativo: la existencia de varios tipos de compromiso de continuidad, y la existencia de relaciones no lineales entre el compromiso, ciertos comportamientos organizativos y algunos indicadores clásicos de éstos como la intención de abandonar la organización. Para ello, se ha llevado a cabo un estudio empírico en el que participaron 241 informantes, que permitió testear las hipótesis mediante el uso de regresión lineal jerárquica.

Determinantes de la intención del consumidor de ir a un destino turístico. Aplicación al caso de "Mundo Maya-México"

[ES] Cada destino turístico tiene una marca que puede elegir el consumidor a la hora de viajar. Este trabajo examina, a través de un modelo causal que contrastamos empíricamente para el caso de Mundo Maya-México, el papel que desempeña la reputación, las emociones y la confianza en la intención de compra de los consumidores de un destino turístico.