Audit report on America’s Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape, Inc., d/b/a Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area and Silos and Smokestacks Natural Heritage Area Foundation in Waterloo, Iowa for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013

Audit report on America’s Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape, Inc., d/b/a Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area and Silos and Smokestacks Natural Heritage Area Foundation in Waterloo, Iowa for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013

Projecte d'adequació d'una nau industrial per a la implantació d'una indústria de processat d'ametlles

El projecte se situa en una explotació agrícola de 20 ha, 18 de les quals estan destinades al cultiu d’ametllers de la varietat Vairo. L’explotació pertany al municipi de l’Albi, a la comarca de Les Garrigues, província de Lleida. Actualment a la finca existeix una nau industrial sense instal•lació elèctrica ni hidràulica i sense cap partició a l’interior que es fa servir com a magatzem d’eines. Les ametlles recollides a l’explotació són comercialitzades a una cooperativa de Reus. Els serveis dels que disposa la finca actualment són: - Escomesa elèctrica a l’entrada de la finca. - Aigua del canal Segarra-Garrigues pressuritzada. Escomesa a l’entrada de la finca. - Fossa sèptica de 50 m3. Es troba a 20 m del col•lector general pel qual s’evacuaran les aigües residuals. Es tracta d’una antiga bassa soterrada que ja existia i que se’n reconvertirà el seu ús. L’objectiu del projecte és descriure i dissenyar l’adequació de la nau industrial de dimensions 10 m x 12 m (120 m2) per implantar una indústria de processat primari d’ametlla. El processat primari consisteix en el desclovat de l’ametlla (separació del gra de la closca), assecat del gra obtingut per aconseguir una humitat inferior al 6 % i finalment l’envasat d’aquest gra. Com a procés secundari s’envasarà i es comercialitzarà la closca obtinguda en el procés de descolvat

Modelling ecological niches with support vector machines

1. The ecological niche is a fundamental biological concept. Modelling species' niches is central to numerous ecological applications, including predicting species invasions, identifying reservoirs for disease, nature reserve design and forecasting the effects of anthropogenic and natural climate change on species' ranges. 2. A computational analogue of Hutchinson's ecological niche concept (the multidimensional hyperspace of species' environmental requirements) is the support of the distribution of environments in which the species persist. Recently developed machine-learning algorithms can estimate the support of such high-dimensional distributions. We show how support vector machines can be used to map ecological niches using only observations of species presence to train distribution models for 106 species of woody plants and trees in a montane environment using up to nine environmental covariates. 3. We compared the accuracy of three methods that differ in their approaches to reducing model complexity. We tested models with independent observations of both species presence and species absence. We found that the simplest procedure, which uses all available variables and no pre-processing to reduce correlation, was best overall. Ecological niche models based on support vector machines are theoretically superior to models that rely on simulating pseudo-absence data and are comparable in empirical tests. 4. Synthesis and applications. Accurate species distribution models are crucial for effective environmental planning, management and conservation, and for unravelling the role of the environment in human health and welfare. Models based on distribution estimation rather than classification overcome theoretical and practical obstacles that pervade species distribution modelling. In particular, ecological niche models based on machine-learning algorithms for estimating the support of a statistical distribution provide a promising new approach to identifying species' potential distributions and to project changes in these distributions as a result of climate change, land use and landscape alteration.

Use of Reagent Grade Versus Industrial Grade Trichlorethylene in Asphalt Recoveries, MLR-83-05, 1983

This is a continuation of a project initiated a year ago to determine any differences in test results on recovered asphalt cements caused by the use of industrial grade of solvent as compared with the reagent grade. AASHTO specifies the use of reagent grade of trichlorethylene, but the Laboratory uses industrial grade which costs much less. Last year this objective of the project was aborted when it was found that a larger difference in test results was obtained between the two distillation apparatuses than between the two solvents, Then all efforts were directed toward obtaining uniformity in test results between the apparatuses under the east hood as compared with that under the west hood. Considerable progress was made toward this end. (See report under this same title dated April 1982). The objective this year was to again evaluate the results when using both variables (apparatuses and solvents). Another objective developed later in this investigation; this was to determine any differences in test results on recovered asphalt cements caused by the use of reclaimed trichlorethylene (from the distillation process) as compared with the use of industrial grade of solvent. At the present time the reclaimed trichlorethylene is discarded. If the reclaimed solvent could be used for further recoveries, a considerable savings in solvent costs would result.

A new spin on a compositionalist predictive modelling framework for conservation planning: a tropical case study in Ecuador

Knowledge about spatial biodiversity patterns is a basic criterion for reserve network design. Although herbarium collections hold large quantities of information, the data are often scattered and cannot supply complete spatial coverage. Alternatively, herbarium data can be used to fit species distribution models and their predictions can be used to provide complete spatial coverage and derive species richness maps. Here, we build on previous effort to propose an improved compositionalist framework for using species distribution models to better inform conservation management. We illustrate the approach with models fitted with six different methods and combined using an ensemble approach for 408 plant species in a tropical and megadiverse country (Ecuador). As a complementary view to the traditional richness hotspots methodology, consisting of a simple stacking of species distribution maps, the compositionalist modelling approach used here combines separate predictions for different pools of species to identify areas of alternative suitability for conservation. Our results show that the compositionalist approach better captures the established protected areas than the traditional richness hotspots strategies and allows the identification of areas in Ecuador that would optimally complement the current protection network. Further studies should aim at refining the approach with more groups and additional species information.

Uso industrial de grãos de cevada de lavouras dessecadas em pré-colheita

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o impacto da antecipação da colheita de lavouras de cevada sobre a germinação dos grãos, ao longo de 12 meses de armazenamento. O ensaio de campo foi realizado em 2002 e 2003. As parcelas colhidas foram armazenadas nos anos subseqüentes aos dos ensaios em campo, e a germinação foi monitorada mensalmente. Os tratamentos avaliados foram: dessecação com os princípios ativos glifosato e paraquat, nas doses 1, 1,5 e 2 L ha-1, além das testemunhas, colhidas normalmente e de forma antecipada, sem dessecação. O delineamento utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, com três repetições. A colheita antecipada sem dessecação foi o tratamento de maior prejuízo qualitativo à germinação dos grãos. A deterioração qualitativa temporal dos grãos, nos tratamentos com herbicidas dessecantes, foi estatisticamente similar à observada nas amostras oriundas da testemunha colhida normalmente, sem dessecação. Não foram encontradas evidências de que o uso de herbicidas dessecantes acelere o processo de perda de germinação de grãos de cevada, ao longo do período de armazenagem, para os produtos e doses testados.

Actuación ante los delitos contra la propiedad intelectual e industrial desde el punto de vista jurídico [presentació associada a la ponència]

Sus formas de manifestación, comisión y desarrollo directamente relacionadas con el propio desarrollo de la tecnología; Son una fuente lucrativa para los grupos delictivos organizados y un medio fácil y de poco coste para la obtención de importantes beneficios y con menor riesgo de castigo; Especial idiosincrasia de las localidades de esta comunidad autónoma, favorece su proliferación; Genera un fenómeno sociológico singular : empatía o solidaridad que determina un menor reproche social; -Escasa conciencia popular del carácter delictivo de algunas de estas conductas; -Figura delictiva que entraña organización compleja siendo el Top manta nada más que la “punta del iceberg”. Necesidad de una visión jurídica global para analizar este tipo de delitos y abordarlos adecuadamente.

Manual de buenas prácticas para la persecución de los delitos contra la propiedad intelectual industrial

Estos delitos son un fraude a la ciudadanía en su conjunto. No perjudican a los creadores o a las marcas solamente, si no que lo hacen a todo el tejido industrial Limitan las posibilidades de crecimiento y desarrollo . Debilitan las garantías de los consumidores.

Nau industrial per a Supercal al Masnou

Per conèixer més dades sobre el projecte podeu adreçar-vos a la pàgina web següent: www.rga.es

Industrial nanoparticle application : representative survey among Swiss companies shows low usage and basic protection means

Manufactured nanoparticles are introduced into industrial processes, but they are suspected to cause similar negative health effects as ambient particles. The poor knowledge about the scale of this introduction did not allow global risk analysis so far. In 2006 a targeted telephone survey among Swiss companies (1) showed the usage of nanoparticles in a few selected companies but did not provide data to extrapolate on the totality of the Swiss workforce. To gain this kind of information a layered representative questionnaire survey among 1'626 Swiss companies was conducted in 2007. Data was collected about the number of potentially exposed persons in the companies and their protection strategy. The response rate was 58.3%. An expected number of 586 companies (95%−confidence interval 145 to 1'027) was shown by this study to use nanoparticles in Switzerland. Estimated 1'309 (1'073 to 1'545) workers do their job in the same room as a nanoparticle application. Personal protection was shown to be the predominant type of protection means. Companies starting productions with nanomaterials need to consider incorporating protection measures into the plans. This will not only benefit the workers' health, but will also likely increase the competitiveness of the companies. Technical and organisational protection means are not only more cost−effective on the long term, but are also easier to control. Guidelines may have to be designed specifically for different industrial applications, including fields outside nanotechnology, and adapted to all sizes of companies.

Biblioteca de l’Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona. Memòria 2013

Preprint

Biblioteca de l’Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona. Memòria 2012

Preprint