The Rufous-throated Dipper Cinclus schulzi is endemic to the Southern Yungas of north-western Argentina and southern Bolivia. The species is categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List on the basis of small population size and restricted range. The purpose of our study was to determine the distribution of potentially suitable habitat for the Rufous-throated Dipper, estimate its population size, and assess potential distribution within strict protected areas, in north-western Argentina. We surveyed 44 rivers in the Southern Yungas of Argentina from 2010 to 2013 to determine dipper density (i.e. the number of individuals detected per km surveyed). The dipper’s potential distribution was assessed using a maximum entropy modeling approach based on 31 occurrence points and eight bioclimatic and two topographic variables as predictors. The species is dependent on mountain forest rivers, so the potential distribution was restricted to rivers. We estimated dipper population size by multiplying density by the potential distribution along rivers. Finally, we calculated the extent of suitable habitat contained within the boundaries of Argentina´s National Parks. Dipper density was 0.94 ± 1.55 individuals/km. We estimate that within north-west Argentina there are ~2,815 km of river that are potential habitat, with an area of occupancy of 141 km2 and a population size of 2,657 ± 4,355 dippers. However, of this river extent, less than 5% is within National Parks. Our results highlight the need to create new and to enlarge existing National Parks that protect the potentially suitable habitat of the species. Although more information is needed for Bolivia, the country-level area of occupancy and population size of the dipper found in Argentina provides strong evidence that the IUCN Red List classification of this species as ‘Vulnerable’ is warranted.

Migration was a key social process contributing to the creation of the ‘Chaco World’ between AD 800 and 1200. Dynamic social network analysis allows for evaluation of several migration scenarios, and demonstrates that Chaco’s earliest ninth-century networks show interaction with areas to the west and south, rather than migration to the Canyon from the Northern San Juan. By the late eleventh century, Chaco Canyon was tied strongly to the Middle and Northern San Juan, while a twelfth-century retraction of networks separated the Northern and Southern San Juan areas prior to regional depopulation. Understanding Chaco migration is important for comprehending both its uniqueness in U.S. Southwest archaeology and for comparison with other case studies worldwide.

Air pollution in Mexico City, which has more than 22 million inhabitants, continues to be one of the main environmental issues. Aerosol samples (PM10) collected in Mexico City and the city of Cuernavaca (a clean reference site) have been characterized using different techniques. This multifaceted approach addresses the source apportionment of the carbonaceous matter in PM10, as well as the airborne elements and ions. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon analysis of total carbon, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and ion chromatography were performed on aerosols collected at three sites in Mexico City and one site in Cuernavaca, during 2 months of the cold-dry season (November–December) in 2012. New results obtained for Mexico City are compared with previous reports. Average levels of PM10 were higher in Mexico City sites (43.3–60.8 μg/m3) than in Cuernavaca (32.2 μg/m3). According to the material balance, PM10 collected in Mexico City had a lower contribution of crustal material (31.2–36.8%) than Cuernavaca (46.9%). Average contributions of particulate carbonaceous matter to PM10 were similar in both cities, but much higher contributions of mineral salts, trace elements, and ions were observed in Mexico City in comparison to Cuernavaca. Total organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) contents were higher in aerosols from Mexico City than those from Cuernavaca. The temporal variation results showed that within all locations studied the OC concentration was high compared to the EC. Results from a theoretical calculation of fossil carbon (FC) and biogenic carbon (BC) concentrations showed that FC and BC levels depend on the site: at Mexico City sites, FC was equal or higher than BC. At Cuernavaca, BC was always higher than FC.

The star formation history of galaxies is a complex process usually considered to be stochastic in nature, for which we can only give average descriptions such as the color-density relation. In this work we follow star-forming gas particles in a hydrodynamical N-body simulation back in time in order to study their initial spatial configuration. By keeping record of the time when a gas particle started forming stars we can produce Lagrangian gas-star isochrone surfaces delineating the surfaces of accreting gas that begin producing stars at different times. These surfaces form a complex a network of filaments in Eulerian space from which galaxies accrete cold gas. Lagrangian accretion surfaces are closely packed inside dense regions, intersecting each other, and as a result galaxies inside proto-clusters stop accreting gas early, naturally explaining the color dependence on density. The process described here has a purely gravitational / geometrical origin, arguably operating at a more fundamental level than complex processes such as AGN and supernovae, and providing a conceptual origin for the color-density relation.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection rates increase with maternal seroprevalence due to transmission from maternal non-primary infection. CMV seroprevalence estimates of pregnant women are needed for planning strategies against congenital CMV transmission. We aimed to determine the age-specific prevalence of serum antibodies for CMV in a representative age-stratified sample of unselected pregnant women from a Brazilian population. A total of 985 pregnant women, aged 12–46 years (median 24 years), were enrolled. Overall CMV seroprevalence was 97% (95% confidence interval 95·8–98·0), with age-specific (years) prevalence as follows: 12–19 (96·3%), 20–24 (97·7%), 25–29 (97·1%), and 30–46 (96·7%). CMV seroprevalence is almost universal (97%) and is found at similar levels in pregnant women of ages ranging from 12 to 46 years. Because high CMV seroprevalence is found even in women of a younger age in this population, this finding suggests that the majority of primary CMV infections occur early, in infancy or childhood. As a consequence, vaccines currently under development to prevent primary infection may not be a solution for the prevention of congenital CMV infection in this population.

The Nearby Supernova Factory aims at discovering and stud- ying a large sample of nearby (0.03 < z < 0.08) thermonuclear supernovae. Potential targets are extracted from the unbiased Palomar-QUEST survey, and follow-up spectro-photometric observations are performed using the dedicated Supernovae Integral-Field Spectrograph. The current sample comprises more than 2700 flux-calibrated optical spectra (320-1000 nm) from 181 supernovæ followed over their full life-time. Specific operation and data-reduction issues are discussed, and first scientific results from this unprecedented dataset are presented.

Molecular methods for the detection and typing of hepatitis A virus (HAV) strains in sewage were applied to determine its distribution in Cairo and Barcelona. The study revealed the occurrence of different patterns of hepatitis A endemicity in each city. The circulating strains characterized, whether in Cairo or Barcelona, were genotype IB. The effects of a child vaccination programme and the increase in the immigrant population on the overall hepatitis A occurrence in Barcelona were evaluated. While vaccination contributed to a significant decrease in the number of clinical cases, the huge recent immigration flow has probably been responsible for the re-emergence of the disease in the last year of study, in the form of small outbreaks among the non-vaccinated population.

Genetically engineered transgenic crop varieties (TGVs) have spread rapidly in the last 10 years, increasingly to traditionally-based agricultural systems (TBAS) of the Third World both as seed and food. Proponents claim they are key to reducing hunger and negative environmental impacts of agriculture. Opponents claim they will have the opposite effect. The risk management process (RMP) is the primary way in which TGVs are regulated in the US (and many other industrial countries), and proponents claim that the findings of that process in the US and its regulatory consequences should be extended to TBAS. However, TBAS differ in important ways from industrial agriculture, so TGVs could have different effects in TBAS, and farmers there may evaluate risks and benefits differently. To evaluate some potential impacts of TGVs in TBAS we used the RMP as a framework for the case of Bt maize in Mesoamerica and Cuba. We interviewed 334 farmers in Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico about farming practices, evaluations of potential harm via hypothetical scenarios, and ranking of maize types. Results suggest high potential for transgene flow via seed, grain and pollen; differences in effects of this exposure in TBAS compared with industrial agriculture; farmers see some potential consequences as harmful. Perceptions of harm differ among farmers in ways determined by their farming systems, and are different from those commonly assumed in industrial systems. An RMP including participation of farmers and characteristics of TBAS critical for their functioning is necessary to ensure that investments in agricultural technologies will improve, not compromise these agricultural systems.

In frontier analysis, most of the nonparametric approaches (free disposal hull [FDH], data envelopment analysis [DEA]) are based on envelopment ideas, and their statistical theory is now mostly available. However, by construction, they are very sensitive to outliers. Recently, a robust nonparametric estimator has been suggested by Cazals, Florens, and Simar (2002, Journal of Econometrics 1, 1–25). In place of estimating the full frontier, they propose rather to estimate an expected frontier of order m. Similarly, we construct a new nonparametric estimator of the efficient frontier. It is based on conditional quantiles of an appropriate distribution associated with the production process. We show how these quantiles are interesting in efficiency analysis. We provide the statistical theory of the obtained estimators. We illustrate with some simulated examples and a frontier analysis of French post offices, showing the advantage of our estimators compared with the estimators of the expected maximal output frontiers of order m.We thank J.P. Florens for helpful discussions and C. Cazals for providing the post office data set. We also are very grateful to the referees for useful suggestions.

Leptogium quercicola (Collemataceae), a new corticolous species, is described from central and south-eastern Spain. It is closely related to L. lichenoides, but differs in the development of dense fruticolous cushions, with lobes narrower than the smallest known forms of L. lichenoides. Moreover, spore length and width of the two taxa are significantly different. In addition, the two species differ ecologically; L. quercicola growing directly on bark of Quercus spp., while L. lichenoides colonizes rocks, soil and bark but always among mosses.

We analyse the rest–frame (U$-$V) colour–magnitude relation for 2 clusters at redshift 0.7 and 0.8, drawn from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey. By comparing them with the population of red galaxies in the Coma cluster, we show that the high redshift clusters exhibit a deficit of passive faint red galaxies. Our results show that the red–sequence population cannot be explained in terms of a monolithic and synchronous formation scenario. A large fraction of faint passive galaxies in clusters today has moved onto the red sequence relatively recently as a consequence of the fact that their star formation activity has come to an end at $z<0.8$.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

In this study 529 fallow deer fawns were captured and weighed at Doñana National Park, Spain. An annual index of male-biased maternal investment (MBMI) was calculated, and this index was found to vary in relation to environmental factors. Thus, the level of MBMI was sensitive to fluctuations of autumn rainfall and the male-biased maternal investment carried out by mothers in the previous year (MBMIP). Our results reveal that those factors related to the female's body condition at the beginning of gestation have a high contribution to the variation of differential pre-natal maternal investment. It has been hypothesized by other authors that male-biased maternal investment is limited by the level of total maternal expenditure and these authors classified the fallow deer as a species near to its maximum reproductive effort, in which no sex-biased maternal investment exists. Our study reveals that male-biased maternal investment in fallow deer does exist and supports the hypothesis that sensitivity of maternal investment to environmental conditions could be expected to occur in species with high reproductive effort and sex-biased maternal investment.

In this article the current capabilities at DENIM for the analysis of directly driven targets are presented. These include theoretical, computational and applied physical studies and developments of detailed simulation models for the most relevant processes in ICF. The simulation of directly driven ICF targets is carried out with the one-dimensional NORCLA code developed at DENIM. This code contains two main segments: NORMA and CLARA, able to work fully coupled and in an iterative manner. NORMA solves the hydrodynamic equations in a lagrangian mesh. It has modular programs coupled to it to treat the laser or particle beam interaction with matter. Equations of state, opacities and conductivities are taken from a DENIM atomic data library, generated externally with other codes that will also be explained in this work. CLARA solves the transport equation for neutrons, (Boltzmann), as well as for charged particles, and suprathermal electrons (Fokker-Planck), using discrete ordinates and finite element methods in the computational procedure. Parametric calculations of multilayered single-shell targets driven by heavy ion beams are also analyzed. Finally, conclusions are focused on the ongoing developments in the areas of interest such as: radiation transport, atomic physics, particle in cell method, charged particle transport, two-dimensional calculations and instabilities.