Computer simulation for effect of Tb3+ on Ca2+ speciation in human plasma

Effect of Tb3+ on Ca2+ speciation in human plasma was studied by means of the computer program of MINTEQA2. When Tb3+ ions are not added into the system, Ca2+ ions mostly distribute in free Ca2+ (74.7%) and the surplus distributes in Ca2+ complexes, such as [CaHCO3](+) (7.9%),[Ca(Lac)](+) (6.4%), CaHPO4 (1.3%), [CaHistidinateThreoninateH(3)](3+) (2.4%), [CaCitrateHistidinateH(2)] (2.3%) and CaCO3 (1.1%). Tb3+ can compete with Ca2+ for inorganic as well as biological ligands. An increase of concentration of Tb3+ in the system results in an increase of content of free Ca2+ and a decrease of contents of Ca2+ complexes.

Relationship between the structure and catalytic activity of La2-xSrxNiO4-lambda(0<=x<=1) mixed oxides for NH3 oxidation

A series of samples having the composition of La2-xSrxNiO4(0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1) were prepared and used as catalysts for NH3 oxidation. It was found that the La and oxygen vacancies exist in the La2-xSrxNiO4-lambda(0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1). The unit cell volume decreases with the increase of x. For bath c and a parameters there appeared a turning point at x = 0.5. Doping with a lower valence cation Sr2+ in the case of La2NiO4 resulted in an increase of Ni3+, consequently the formation of oxygen vacancies, the increase of reducing ability and the increase of catalytic activity. In the oxygen TPD of La2-xSrxNiO4(0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1) appeared three peaks, the alpha' peak at about 400K was attributed to the surplus oxygen desorption, the a peak at 700K which approaches to a maxium at x = 0.6 was attributed to the oxygen adsorbed at oxygen vacancies. The beta peak at about 1000K which depends closely on the x and favors the catalytic activity was attributed to the reduction of Ni3+. The catalytic activity of La-2-x SrxNiO4 mixed oxides in the NH3 oxidation in general could be attributed to the extent of the redox reaction: 2Ni(2+) + O-2 + V-0(..) reversible arrow 2Ni(3+) + 20(-) where V-0(..) representes the oxygen vacancies and O- the oxygen species adsorbed at the vacancies.

Annual cycle of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the Bohai Sea: A model study

The annual cycle of nutrient-phytoplankton dynamics in Bohai Sea (BS) is simulated using a coupled physical-biological model in this study. By comparison, the modeled seasonal variations of nutrients and primary productivity agree with observations rather well. Although the annual cycles of chlorophyll a and primary production are both characterized by a double-peak configuration, a structural difference is still apparent: the phytoplankton biomass reaches the highest value in spring while summer is characterized by the most productivity in the BS, which can be ascribed to the combined impact of seawater temperature and zooplankton-grazing pressure on the growth of algae. Based on the validated simulations, the annual budgets of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are estimated, and are about 0.82 mt C surplus, 39 kt N deficit and 12kt P surplus, respectively, implying that the BS ecosystem is somewhat nitrogen limited. The contribution of two external nutrient sources, namely river discharges and resuspended sediments, to the growth of algae is also examined numerically, and it is found that the influence of river-borne nutrients mainly concentrates in estuaries, whereas the reduction of sediment-borne nutrients may significantly inhibit the onset of algae bloom in the whole BS. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

海上时移地震综合解释技术研究与应用

The practical application and development of the time-lapse seismic reservoir monitor technology has indicated which has already become one of most important development technologies in seeking the surplus oil distribution and improving the reservoir recovering. The paper, first obtained the rock physics experiment analysis data according to the Bohai Sea loose sandstone in-situ measure technical, and determined the feasibility research of the S oil-field on the time-lapse seismic reservoir monitoring combining with the time-lapse numeric simulation technology, which was used to analyze the time-lapse seismic respond raw of the reservoir parameters change and pointed out the attentive problems during the real time-lapse seismic processing and interpretation. Next, simply introduced the technical link and the effect of the time-lapse mutual constrained fidelity and match processing aiming at the local complex gathering condition, geological condition, development engineering condition. Third, introduced the time-lapse integrated interpretation and the technical system with the innovative key technology that includes the time-lapse difference explanation technology, the time-lapse seismic multi-attributes integrated interpretation technology, and the time-lapse constrained reservoir parameters inversion technology, and so on. Using the time-lapse difference direct explanation technology, directly obtained the surplus oil macroscopic distribution through the difference seismic data; Using the presenting 8 big principles of the sublayer isochronisms comparison, carried on the time-lapse integrated interpretation analysis on the fine sublayer comparison and the thin oil-layer(group) contrast and the oil layer (group); The paper putted up the research, contrast, applications of the multi-sides sensitive attribute analysis and the RBF nerve network on the nearest study algorithm, and predicted the reservoir parameters and the surplus oil distribution with them; Combining with innovative researches and the time-lapse seismic constrained reservoir parameters inversion technology realized the good combination of the seismic and the reservoir engineering. Fourth, under fully analyzing the geology condition, the reservoir condition, the exploit dynamic data, and the seismic data of the S oil-field, and analyzing the time-lapse difference factors with reservoir dynamic exploit data, calibrated the oil-gas saturation change, the pressure change, the water saturation change, and determined the rationality of the time-lapse seismic difference, and finally obtained the surplus oil distribution, the water flood characteristic understanding, reservoir degasification, and pressure drop raw, and so on, which had been used in the well pattern tightening plan proof of the S oil-field development adjustment plan. Finally, the paper summarized the knowledge and understanding of the marine time-lapse seismic integrated interpretation, also had pointed out the further need researched question.

大港千米桥地区综合地质地球物理研究

Qianmiqiao buried hill, which is a high-yield burial hill pool, was discovered at Dagang oilfield in 1998. To employ the integrated geological and geophysical research at Qianmiqiao area, it is very valuable and meaningful for the petroleum exploration of Bohai Bay Basin and even the whole country. Based on the previous results, this paper is carried out from the research on Huanghua depression, following the law, i.e. the deep part constrains the shallow, the regional constrains the local, takes the geophysical research in Qianmiqiao oilfield, discusses the formation history of burial hills, burial history, thermal history, the generated and expelling history of hydrocarbon, and migration characteristics, probes into the formation of burial hill pool. This paper uses the gravity and magnetic methods which are based on potential field, with natural sources, configures the inner structure of the earth according to the difference in the density and magnetism of the rock. The geophysical characteristics of Dagang oil field is that it is an area with positive Buge gravity anomal. The upheaval of Moho boundary is in mirror symmetry with the depression of the basin's basement. The positive and negative anomaly distributein axis symmetry, and the orientation is NNE. The thickness of the crust gradually reduces from west to east, from land to sea. The depth gradient strip of Curie surface is similar to Moho boundary, whereas their local buried depth is different. Local fractures imply that the orientation of base rock fractures is NNE-NE, and the base rock is intersected by the fractures of the same/ later term, whose orientation is NW, so the base rock likes rhombic mosaic. The results of tomography show that there exists significant asymmetry in vertical and horizontal direction in the velocity configuration of Huanghua depression. From Dezhou to Tianjin, there exits high-speed block, which extends from south to north. The bottom of this high-speed block is in good agreement with the depth of Moho boundary. Hence we can conclude that the high-speed block is actually the crystal basement. According to seismic data, well data and outcrop data, Huanghua depression can be divided into four structure layers, i.e. Pi,2-T, Ji,2-K, E, N-Q. Qianmiqiao burial hills undergo many tectonic movement, where reverse faults in developed in inner burial hill from Indosinian stage to Yanshanian stage, the normal faults extended in Himalayan stage. Under the influence of tectonic movements, the burial hills show three layers, i.e. the reverse rushing faults in buried hills, paleo-residual hill, and extended horst block. The evolution of burial hills can be divided into four stages: steady raising period from Calenonian to early Hercynian, rushing brake drape period from Indosinian to middle Yanshanian, block tilting period in early Tertiary, and heating depression period from late Tertiary to Quaternary. The basin modeling softwares BasinMod 1-D and Basin 2-D, which are made by PRA corporation, are used in this paper, according to the requirement, corresponding geological model is designed. And we model the burial history, thermal history, hydrocarbon generation and hydrocarbon expelling history of Qianmiqiao area. The results show that present bury depth is the deepest in the geological history, the sedimentary rate of Tertiary is highest and its rising rate of temperature rate is higher. During sedimentary history, there is no large erosion, and in the Tertiary, the deeper sediment was deposited in large space, therefore it is in favor of the conservation and transformation of oil and gas. The thermal research shows that the heat primarily comes from basement of the basin, present geotherm is the highest temperature in the geological history. Major source rock is the strata of ES3, whose organic is abundant, good-typed, maturative and of high-expulsive efficiency. The organic evolution of source rock of O has come to the overmature stage, the evolving time is long and the source rock can be easily destroyed. Therefore it is more difficult for the O formation source rock to form the huge accumulation of oil and gas than Es3 formation. In the research of oil assembling, we first calculated the characteristics of the fluid pressure of single well, then analyzed the distribution of the surplus fluid pressure of each formation and profile, and probe the first hydrocarbon migration situation and the distribution of pressure system of buried hill pool. In every formation, the pressure system of each burial hill has its own characteristics, e.g. high pressure or low pressure. In the research of secondary migration, the fluid potential is calculated while the relative low potential area is figured out. In Qianmiqiao area, the west margin faults have the low potential, and hence is the favorable reconnoiter belt.

热察绥地区过去300年土地利用覆被变化

The historical land use and land cover changes is one of the key issues in LUCC research. However, the achievement of China in this field doesn't match her position in the world yet. And the reliability of the quantitive records in Chinese historical literature, the basic data for historical land use research, has been doubted. This research focuses on Re-Cha-Sui, a typical area for the farming-pastoral region in the north of China, to make a detailed case study in this field. Based on a deep mining and calibration on the data from massive historical documents and land-use surveys, the author gives a detailed analysis on the administrative region evolution, historical population dynamics, reclamation policy, and the land statistic system. According to textual researches, parallel validation and physical geographical analysis, a unified land use series for recent 300 years, which founded on the results of modern land-use surveys, is constructed. And the thematic maps on the cultivation index for different counties in several temporal sections are plotted. Based on the endeavor above, the dynamic of forest and steppe is reconstructed as well. The temporal-spatial patterns of land use/land cover changes in the area is analyzed. And the influence of different driving forces are discussed. The main conclusions of the research are as followed: 1. The quantitive records in literatures on Re-Cha-Sui area are reflection of real amounts of croplands. It is practical to reconstruct a result comparable with the modern land-use surveys, based of a deep mining and considerate validation on historical documents. The unexceptional negative attitude towards the numerical records in historical documents is unnecessary. 2. In recent 300 years, 3 climax of reclamation appeared in Re-Cha-Sui area and altered the pure pastoral area into a farming-pastoral region. The interval were respectively the early time till mid time of the Qing dynasty, the end of the Qing dynasty till early time of the Republic of China(ROC), and the time after A.D. 1949. After the first expansion, the area of cropland in this region reached 2.0 million ha. Among them, Guisui area, which was most densely cultivated, had a cultivation index over 30%, which is similar with modern situation. The second expansion covered broader area, and the amount of cropland reached 3.5 million ha. The increase of farming area after 1949 is due to the recultivation of abandoned farmland. The current area of cropland in this region is 5.6 million ha. In the southern area where the land was reclaimed early, the amount on of the cropland has some fluctuation in 300 years. While in the new reclaimed area in the north, the area of cropland has kept the trend of increasing. 3. Due to the different natural conditions, most forests in Re-Cha-Sui area distribute in the mountain area of North Hebei province, and the upland of West Liaoning province, especially the former, which has a forest coverage near 70%. However, most of these forests were destroyed before the end of the Qing dynasty. In 1949, the natural forest near Chengde was nearly cleared up. They were partly renewed after 1949 due to plantation. 4. In the steppe zone such as northern Rehe, Suiyuan and Chahar, the area of steppe has a negative correlation with that of cropland. With the expansion of cropland, the percentage of steppe has shrunk from over 80% to 53%. In the mountain area of North Hebei province, steppe expanded with the shrinkage of forest, though cropland was expanding. The percentage once reached 60%, and then fell with the renew of forest. However, in the upland of West Liaoning province, the steppe shrink slowly from original 50% to current 26%, with the expansion of cropland. 5. The land use and land cover change in Re-Cha-Sui area in recent 300 years is driven by various factors, including human dimensions such as population, policy of the government, disorder of the society, cultural tradition, and natural factors such as climate change and natural disasters. Among them, pressure from surplus population is the basic driving force.

The study of Ti doped ZSM-5 particles and cavities inside them

The TEM study of titanium-containing ZSM-5 zeolite before and after hydrothermal treatment was performed. The use of different TEM techniques, such as conventional TEM, HRTEM and EDX-line scans provides important information about the microscopic structure of the zeolite catalyst consisting from several phases. The hydrothermal treatment of zeolite powder leads to strong changes in the morphology of the constituting particles. They are characterized by a homogeneous structure before hydrothermal treatment while the occurrence of holes after thermal treatment was observed, These changes lead to the enrichment of zeolite with titanium which obviously enhance its catalytic activity. Some of the titanium surplus precipitates as TiO2 anatase nanoparticles within the holes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Badania wartości ekonomicznej usług biblioteczno-informacyjnych i ich wpływu na otoczenie

Biblioteki pełnią różnorodne funkcje we współczesnym otoczeniu społecznym. Uczestniczą w tworzeniu kapitału intelektualnego i społecznego, wpływają na wzrost korzyści ekonomicznych użytkowników i całego społeczeństwa. W artykule omówiono główne podejścia i metody badawcze w zakresie oceny korzyści ekonomicznych płynących z funkcjonowania bibliotek. Skupiono się na metodzie analizy kosztów w stosunku do korzyści (ang. CBA – cost-benefit analysis), metodzie analizy warunkowej (ang. CVM – contigent valuation method), określaniu wartości dodanej dla użytkownika (ang. consumer surplus method) i metodologii oceny stopy wzrostu z inwestycji (ang. ROI – return of investment). Przeanalizowano również różne projekty badań prowadzone na świecie w tym zakresie.

Collocation Games and Their Application to Distributed Resource Management

We introduce Collocation Games as the basis of a general framework for modeling, analyzing, and facilitating the interactions between the various stakeholders in distributed systems in general, and in cloud computing environments in particular. Cloud computing enables fixed-capacity (processing, communication, and storage) resources to be offered by infrastructure providers as commodities for sale at a fixed cost in an open marketplace to independent, rational parties (players) interested in setting up their own applications over the Internet. Virtualization technologies enable the partitioning of such fixed-capacity resources so as to allow each player to dynamically acquire appropriate fractions of the resources for unencumbered use. In such a paradigm, the resource management problem reduces to that of partitioning the entire set of applications (players) into subsets, each of which is assigned to fixed-capacity cloud resources. If the infrastructure and the various applications are under a single administrative domain, this partitioning reduces to an optimization problem whose objective is to minimize the overall deployment cost. In a marketplace, in which the infrastructure provider is interested in maximizing its own profit, and in which each player is interested in minimizing its own cost, it should be evident that a global optimization is precisely the wrong framework. Rather, in this paper we use a game-theoretic framework in which the assignment of players to fixed-capacity resources is the outcome of a strategic "Collocation Game". Although we show that determining the existence of an equilibrium for collocation games in general is NP-hard, we present a number of simplified, practically-motivated variants of the collocation game for which we establish convergence to a Nash Equilibrium, and for which we derive convergence and price of anarchy bounds. In addition to these analytical results, we present an experimental evaluation of implementations of some of these variants for cloud infrastructures consisting of a collection of multidimensional resources of homogeneous or heterogeneous capacities. Experimental results using trace-driven simulations and synthetically generated datasets corroborate our analytical results and also illustrate how collocation games offer a feasible distributed resource management alternative for autonomic/self-organizing systems, in which the adoption of a global optimization approach (centralized or distributed) would be neither practical nor justifiable.

Biomethane production from grass silage: laboratory assessment to maximise yields

On-farm biogas production is typically associated with forage maize as the biomass source. Digesters are designed and operated with the focus of optimising the conditions for this feedstock. Thus, such systems may not be ideally suited to the digestion of grass. Ireland has ca. 3.85 million ha of grassland. Annual excess grass, surplus to livestock requirements, could potentially fuel an anaerobic digestion industry. Biomethane associated with biomass from 1.1 % of grassland in Ireland, could potentially generate over 10 % renewable energy supply in transport. This study aims to identify and optimise technologies for the production of biomethane from grass silage. Mono-digestion of grass silage and co-digestion with slurry, as would occur on Irish farms, is investigated in laboratory trials. Grass silage was shown to have 7 times greater methane potential than dairy slurry on a fresh weight basis (107 m3 t-1 v 16 m3 t-1). However, comprehensive trace element profiles indicated that cobalt, iron and nickel are deficient in mono-digestion of grass silage at a high organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.0 kg VS m-3 d-1. The addition of a slurry co-substrate was beneficial due to its wealth of essential trace elements. To stimulate hydrolysis of high lignocellulose grass silage, particle size reduction (physical) and rumen fluid addition (biological) were investigated. In a continuous trial, digestion of grass silage of <1 cm particle size achieved a specific methane yield of 371 L CH4 kg-1 VS when coupled with rumen fluid addition. The concept of demand driven biogas was also examined in a two-phase digestion system (leaching with UASB). When demand for electricity is low it is recommended to disconnect the UASB from the system and recirculate rumen fluid to increase volatile fatty acid (VFA) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) production whilst minimising volatile solids (VS) destruction. At times of high demand for electricity, connection of the UASB increases the destruction of volatiles and associated biogas production. The above experiments are intended to assess a range of biogas production options from grass silage with a specific focus on maximising methane yields and provide a guideline for feasible design and operation of on-farm digesters in Ireland.

Depression and 'crises of meaninglessness' in the political-economic theology of the money-God

The thesis starts with a historical analysis of the development of depression as a concept. Through this inquiry, the controversies behind the apparent consensus about depression’s etiology and treatment are illuminated, suggesting that the understanding of the climbing rates of depression in contemporary Western civilization is still up for grabs. That’s what the thesis sets out to investigate. In order to accomplish this aim, the study builds upon the classical accounts of Georg Simmel, Émile Durkheim and the more contemporary ideas of Dany-Robert Dufour, in dialogue with an array of supplementary theoretical sources. Navigating through this ‘sea’ of extraordinary and different theories, a new avenue of reflections arises, contributing for the sophistication of the questions made about the phenomenon of depression’s rates. The fundamental argument emerging from this theoretical undertaking is that ‘crises of meaninglessness’ that pervade the collective body of Western contemporary societies have, as one of its consequences, the expansion of depression rates. Meaninglessness in contemporary times is the primary object of investigation of the thesis. The concept, in the context of this study, is not understood as merely an effect of the historical decline of shared social norms due to processes of individualization. Rather, it is claimed, it originates from and is reinforced by the ‘political-economic theology of neo-liberalism’ which becomes virtually generalized in the West, erecting money as a God. The study concludes that by undermining culturally established values, ideals, institutions and principles that may block the dissemination of commodities this new transcendence has been challenging the task of signifying life, potentializing – among other subjective difficulties – the diffusion of depression.

On the functional relationship between tariffs and welfare

This paper uses a model of trade in two commodities between two countries to establish the following proposition. If the foreign offer curve has no points of inflection and if for each home rate of duty the equilibrium most favorable to the home country is selected (or else there is only one equilibrium), then as the rate of duty increases from zero, home welfare first rises then declines while foreign welfare steadily falls. © 1975.

Can exchange rates forecast commodity prices?

We show that "commodity currency" exchange rates have surprisingly robust power in predicting global commodity prices, both in-sample and out-of-sample, and against a variety of alternative benchmarks. This result is of particular interest to policy makers, given the lack of deep forward markets in many individual commodities, and broad aggregate commodity indices in particular. We also explore the reverse relationship (commodity prices forecasting exchange rates) but find it to be notably less robust. We offer a theoretical resolution, based on the fact that exchange rates are strongly forward-looking, whereas commodity price fluctuations are typically more sensitive to short-term demand imbalances. © 2010 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Civil Rights on the Cell Block: Race, Reform, and Violence in Texas Prisons and the Nation, 1945-1990

This study, "Civil Rights on the Cell Block: Race, Reform, and Violence in Texas Prisons and the Nation, 1945-1990," offers a new perspective on the historical origins of the modern prison industrial complex, sexual violence in working-class culture, and the ways in which race shaped the prison experience. This study joins new scholarship that reperiodizes the Civil Rights era while also considering how violence and radicalism shaped the civil rights struggle. It places the criminal justice system at the heart of both an older racial order and within a prison-made civil rights movement that confronted the prison's power to deny citizenship and enforce racial hierarchies. By charting the trajectory of the civil rights movement in Texas prisons, my dissertation demonstrates how the internal struggle over rehabilitation and punishment shaped civil rights, racial formation, and the political contest between liberalism and conservatism. This dissertation offers a close case study of Texas, where the state prison system emerged as a national model for penal management. The dissertation begins with a hopeful story of reform marked by an apparently successful effort by the State of Texas to replace its notorious 1940s plantation/prison farm system with an efficient, business-oriented agricultural enterprise system. When this new system was fully operational in the 1960s, Texas garnered plaudits as a pioneering, modern, efficient, and business oriented Sun Belt state. But this reputation of competence and efficiency obfuscated the reality of a brutal system of internal prison management in which inmates acted as guards, employing coercive means to maintain control over the prisoner population. The inmates whom the prison system placed in charge also ran an internal prison economy in which money, food, human beings, reputations, favors, and sex all became commodities to be bought and sold. I analyze both how the Texas prison system managed to maintain its high external reputation for so long in the face of the internal reality and how that reputation collapsed when inmates, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, revolted. My dissertation shows that this inmate Civil Rights rebellion was a success in forcing an end to the existing system but a failure in its attempts to make conditions in Texas prisons more humane. The new Texas prison regime, I conclude, utilized paramilitary practices, privatized prisons, and gang-related warfare to establish a new system that focused much more on law and order in the prisons than on the legal and human rights of prisoners. Placing the inmates and their struggle at the heart of the national debate over rights and "law and order" politics reveals an inter-racial social justice movement that asked the courts to reconsider how the state punished those who committed a crime while also reminding the public of the inmates' humanity and their constitutional rights.

El cluster del azúcar en el valle geográfico del Río Cauca, Colombia

El azúcar es un commodity específico y uno de los mayores contribuyentes al producto interno bruto agrícola de los países en desarrollo para el consumo interno y el comercio internacional. A nivel mundial, el azúcar es obtenido industrialmente a partir de remolacha azucarera (Beta vulgaris) y de la caña de azúcar (Saccharum officinarum) como las únicas fuentes importantes para el comercio (...). El mercado internacional del azúcar es uno de los mercados de commodities agrícolas más altamente distorsionado. El comercio del azúcar crudo y refinado se caracteriza en general, por la ayuda interna significativa y generalizada, y algunas políticas que distorsionan el mercado como: pagos mínimos garantizados a productores, controles de producción y comercialización, regulación de precios, aranceles, cuotas de importación y subvenciones a la exportación (...). A nivel general, se pueden distinguir, básicamente, dos tipos de mercados de azúcar: el mercado protegido y el mercado libre. El mercado protegido consiste en acuerdos preferenciales y contratos de largo plazo que incluyen el sistema de cuotas entre diferentes países. En general, los precios del azúcar presentan fuertes fluctuaciones que obedecen a factores económicos, especulaciones, cambios políticos, recesiones y efectos climáticos (...). No obstante lo anterior, en los últimos años se ha observado una clara tendencia a la globalización de los mercados, y mercado del azúcar no es la excepción. Recientemente, se han centrado esfuerzos para liberalizar parcialmente algunos de los mercados más importantes, como es el caso de EEUU, la UE, Brasil y Australia (...). La creciente demanda de fuentes de energía renovable, entre las cuales se destacan los biocombustibles, también ha afectado significativamente la dinámica comercial y productiva de algunos sectores, en particular el sector azucarero. La caña de azúcar, se ha constituido en la principal materia prima para la elaboración de bioetanol, por lo cual, los países productores han experimentado un reciente cambio en su estructura productiva y comercial, buscando productos de mayor valor agregado, a fin de mejorar su posición competitiva. Bajo este esquema, las industrias productoras de azúcar, sobretodo en países en desarrollo enfrenta enormes retos para convertir sus ventajas comparativas en ventajas competitivas. La estructura de los costos de producción y el rendimiento de cada industria azucarera domestica son unos de los principales impulsores de su competitividad, la determinación de los futuros centros de la producción y el crecimiento de las exportaciones. En medio de este contexto, el presente estudio aborda los principales determinantes de la competitividad de la industria azucarera en Colombia, concentrada en un 98,07 por ciento en el cluster del valle geográfico del rio Cauca.