Intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the conservation of ants and their use as bioindicators.

Ant communities are sensitive to fragmentation responding through: extinction of specialist species compared with large habitats, invasion of generalist species, changes in community composition and richness of species. Because of these characteristics, this review aims at examining the main risks that ants have been facing to maintain their communities, as well as to report current conservation practices in Brazil and in the world.

World food price increases and Brazil: an opportunity for everyone?

Includes bibliography.

Price-based capital account regulations: the Colombian experience

Includes bibliography

A measurement of price levels and the purchasing power of currencies in Latin America, 1960-62

Includes bibliography

Digital filtering of oscillations intrinsic to transmission line modeling based on lumped parameters

A correction procedure based on digital signal processing theory is proposed to smooth the numeric oscillations in electromagnetic transient simulation results from transmission line modeling based on an equivalent representation by lumped parameters. The proposed improvement to this well-known line representation is carried out with an Finite Impulse Response (FIR) digital filter used to exclude the high-frequency components associated with the spurious numeric oscillations. To prove the efficacy of this correction method, a well-established frequency-dependent line representation using state equations is modeled with an FIR filter included in the model. The results obtained from the state-space model with and without the FIR filtering are compared with the results simulated by a line model based on distributed parameters and inverse transforms. Finally, the line model integrated with the FIR filtering is also tested and validated based on simulations that include nonlinear and time-variable elements. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

La política económica y el sistema de precios = Economic policy and the price system

Publicado separadamente en cada idioma

Price elasticity of Central American agricultural exports

Includes bibliography

Bolivia's commodity price shock

Includes bibliography

Mexico: food price increases and growth constraints

Includes bibliography

Intrinsic magnetic properties of BixCo2-xMnO 4 spinels obtained by short-time etching

We report the structural and magnetic properties of Co2MnO 4, partially substituted by Bi at the octahedral site. Bismuth enhances ferromagnetism due to a decrease of the Co2+-Co2+ antiferromagnetic interactions and an increase of the Mn3+-Mn 4+ exchanges. Spurious phases (magnetic and/or nonmagnetic oxides) can easily form because of the large differences between the ionic radii of Bi3+ and Co3+, hiding or altering the intrinsic physical properties of the main BixCo2-xMnO4 phase. An easy way to eliminate the secondary phases is using acid reagents. Short-time etching of Bi0.1Co1.9MnO4 using nitric acid was successfully used, keeping most of the properties of the initial compound, with no alteration of the crystallographic structure. Final stoichiometry was respected (∼Bi0.08Co1.82MnO4), meaning that the material after etching definitely contains bismuth elements in its structure and the observed properties are intrinsic to the oxide spinel. Additional experiments were performed as a function of the synthesis conditions, showing that an optimal pH value of 7 allowed the best magnetic response of the non-doped material. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.