Efecto de la edad al primer parto sobre la productividad de ovino de carne (Raza, Rasa Aragonesa) en una explotación de zona semiárida en Zaragoza, España

El estudio se realizó en la granja ovina de los hermanos Campos Borras localizada en el municipio de Monegrillo, comarcas de Monegros, provincia de Zaragoza, Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón, localizada en las coordenadas geográficas 41° 38´ 15” latitud norte y 0° 25´ 03” de longitud Este, con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de la edad al primer parto sobre la productividad de ovino de carne (Rasa Aragonesa) en una explotación de zona semiárida en Zaragoza, España, Se utilizó una base de dato de registros desde 1994 hasta el 2010, la cual fue depurada antes de su análisis en una hoja de cálculo de Excel® de la suite de Microsoft Office. Todos los análisis estadísticos se analizaron mediante el paquete estadístico SAS®, versión 9.1.3. Los registros se agruparon de acuerdo a la edad al primer parto: Grupo 1: 11 a 14 meses, Grupo 2: 15 a 16 meses, Grupo 3: 19 a 22 meses y Grupo 4: 23 hasta 53 meses. Las diferencias entre grupos se analizaron mediante ANOVA y test de Duncan Se evaluó la fertilidad de dos maneras: 4 años desde su fecha de nacimiento y 4 años desde su primer parto. En ambas evaluaciones se midieron las mismas variables (número de partos, intervalo entre parto y prolificidad). Encontrando que la edad al primer parto no influyó sobre la fertilidad de las ovejas evaluadas desde su nacimiento hasta los 4 años, aunque se observaron diferencias significativas (P<0.01) entre todos los grupos cuando se evaluó. Debido a que se encontró un mayor número de partos en las ovejas que tienen una edad menor al primer parto y cuando la fertilidad se evaluó desde su primer parto se encontró que no existía ninguna diferencia significativa entre grupos, siendo la media general 5.4 partos, lo que quiere decir que la edad al primer parto no repercute en su fertilidad en sus próximos 4 años. Palabras Claves: Rasa Aragonesa, Edad al primer parto, Productividad.

Education and the dynamics of family decisions

This paper investigates the extent to which a biased transmission of educational endowments affects fertility. To this end, we devise a version of Becker’s family decision model that takes preference change into account. Specifically, we model education as an instrument that increases the autonomy (to prefer), and autonomy as an instrument of preference-change for household-structures. The empirical validity of the proposed model is examined for the European setting using the European Community Household Panel. In the context of the model, empirical findings imply the following. On the one hand, both preference for quantity and preference for bequest for each offspring (quality) increases with education, while preference for current consumption decreases. On the other hand, education is found to be negatively correlated with fertility, at a decreasing rate. Therefore, the paper provides a useful additional toolkit for public policy evaluation. It explains how public policies oriented toward the guarantee of personal freedoms, such as the expansion of education and autonomy, are likely to guarantee the same freedoms for subsequent generations.

Capacidades directivas y aprendizaje en las pymes exportadoras

[ES] La importancia de las percepciones de la dirección de la empresa ante la exportación puede afectar de manera significativa al comportamiento exportador de las pymes. En concreto, este aspecto puede incidir sobre el hecho de comenzar una política de exportación en la empresa, así como en políticas de consolidación de dichas exportaciones. El trabajo presentado analiza empíricamente estos dos hechos. En primer lugar en qué medida la percepción de la dirección ante la exportación afecta al hecho de comenzar la exportación. En segundo lugar, en caso de ya ser pymes exportadoras, se estudian qué percepciones directivas ayudan a consolidar dicho compromiso exportador. Para ello se desarrollan y validan ciertas escalas que miden la percepción de las ventajas y las barreras a la exportación mediante el empleo de ecuaciones estructurales. Ambos estudios se efectúan teniendo en cuenta la condición de familiar o no de las pymes objeto de estudio, con el fin de efectuar un análisis exploratorio sobre la potencial incidencia de este hecho.

Preliminary guide to the identification of the early life history stages of Priacanthid fishes of the Western Central Atlantic

The family Priacanthidae contains four genera and four species that occur in the western central North Atlantic (Starnes, 1988). Pristigenys alta is distributed in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and along the east coast of North America. Although juveniles have been reported from as far north as southern New England waters, adults are not reported north of Cape Hatteras, NC. Priacanthus arenatus is distributed in tropical and tropically influenced areas of the western central North Atlantic in insular and continental shelf waters. Adult P. arenatus are distributed north to North Carolina and Bermuda, juveniles have been collected as far north as Nova Scotia. Cookeolus japonicus and Heteropriacanthus cruentatus are circumglobally distributed species and are both common in insular habitats. In the western central North Atlantic, C. japonicus ranges from New Jersey to Argentina; H. cruentatus from New Jersey and northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil (Starnes, 1988). (PDF contains 6 pages)

Antioxidant defense system and family environment in adolescents with family history of psychosis

[EN] Our objective was to determine antioxidant defence activity in healthy controls (HC) and healthy unaffected second-degree relatives of patients with early onset psychosis (HC-FHP),and to assess its relationship with familiar environment measured using the Family Environment Scale (FES). Methods: We included 82 HC and 14 HC-FHP aged between 9 and 17 years. Total antioxidant status,lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activities and glutathione levels were determined in blood samples. Results:There was a significant decrease in the total antioxidant level in the HC-FHP group compared with the HC group (OR = 2.94; p = 0.009), but no between-group differences in the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale scores. For the FES, the HC-FHP group had significantly higher scores in the cohesion (p = 0.007) and intellectual-cultural dimensions (p=0.025). After adjusting for these two FES dimensions, total antioxidant status remained significantly different between groups (OR = 10.86, p = 0.009).

Nueva documentación sobre el primer nacionalismo vasco: correspondencia inédita de Sabino Arana con Luis de Eleizalde (1900-1902)

[ES] En el Archivo General de la Universidad de Navarra, dentro del Fondo Luis de Eleizalde, se conservan un telegrama y ocho cartas de Sabino Arana Goiri al propio Eleizalde, fechadas entre el 3 de diciembre de 1900 y el 21 de agosto de 1902. Se trata de una documentación inédita, de gran interés para conocer diversos aspectos de la ideología y la acción política y cultural del fundador del nacionalismo vasco en los últimos años de su vida. Las cartas aportan nuevos datos sobre las difíciles relaciones de Arana con los fueristas del semanario Euskalduna, su participación en el Congreso de Hendaya para la unificación ortográfica del euskera, las publicaciones periódicas creadas por él (en especial la revista cultural Euzkadi), su controvertida evolución españolista de 1902, etc.

Species composition, distribution, and relative abundance of fishes in the coastal habitat off the southeastern United States

Ichthyofauna of the coastal «10 m depth) habitat of the South Atlantic Bight were investigated between Cape Fear, North Carolina, and the St. John's River, Florida. Trawl collections from four nonconsecutive seasons in the period July 1980 to December 1982 indicated that the fish community is dominated by the family Sciaenidae, particularly juvenile forms. Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) and Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) were the two most abundant species and dominated catches during all seasons. Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortin tyrannus) was also very abundant, but only seasonally (winter and spring) dominant in the catches. Elasmobranch fIShes, especially rajiforms and carcharinids, contributed to much of the biomass of fishes collected. Total fish abundance was greatest in winter and lowest in summer and was influenced by the seasonality of Atlantic menhaden and Atlantic croaker in the catches. Biomass was highest in spring and lowest in summer, and was influenced by biomass of spot. Fish density ranged from 321 individuals and 12.2 kg per hectare to 746 individuals and 25.2 kg per hectare. Most species ranged widely throughout the bight, and showed some evidence of seasonal migration. Species assemblages were dominated by ubiquitous year-round residents of the coastal waters of the bight. Diversity (H') was highest in summer, and appeared influenced by the evenness of distribution of individuals among species. (PDF file contains 56 pages.)

A Computational Module Assembled from Different Protease Family Motifs Identifies PI PLC from Bacillus cereus as a Putative Prolyl Peptidase with a Serine Protease Scaffold

Proteolytic enzymes have evolved several mechanisms to cleave peptide bonds. These distinct types have been systematically categorized in the MEROPS database. While a BLAST search on these proteases identifies homologous proteins, sequence alignment methods often fail to identify relationships arising from convergent evolution, exon shuffling, and modular reuse of catalytic units. We have previously established a computational method to detect functions in proteins based on the spatial and electrostatic properties of the catalytic residues (CLASP). CLASP identified a promiscuous serine protease scaffold in alkaline phosphatases (AP) and a scaffold recognizing a beta-lactam (imipenem) in a cold-active Vibrio AP. Subsequently, we defined a methodology to quantify promiscuous activities in a wide range of proteins. Here, we assemble a module which encapsulates the multifarious motifs used by protease families listed in the MEROPS database. Since APs and proteases are an integral component of outer membrane vesicles (OMV), we sought to query other OMV proteins, like phospholipase C (PLC), using this search module. Our analysis indicated that phosphoinositide-specific PLC from Bacillus cereus is a serine protease. This was validated by protease assays, mass spectrometry and by inhibition of the native phospholipase activity of PI-PLC by the well-known serine protease inhibitor AEBSF (IC50 = 0.018 mM). Edman degradation analysis linked the specificity of the protease activity to a proline in the amino terminal, suggesting that the PI-PLC is a prolyl peptidase. Thus, we propose a computational method of extending protein families based on the spatial and electrostatic congruence of active site residues.