Photo-identification is an important tool for studying cetacean residence patterns, population size, movements, and social structure. This knowledge directs conservation and management. We examined the reliability of photo-identification studies of pink river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) with the hope of encouraging long-term population monitoring programs. From February 2007 to August 2009, 12 surveys were conducted in two locations of the Colombian Amazon and Orinoco river basins. We obtained 795 suitable digital photographs of Inia dolphins. We evaluated the reliability and duration of photo-identification by describing and evaluating the permanence and consistency of eight mark-types. Marks were categorized as reliable (pigmentation patterns on the dorsal ridge, nicks, bends, and wounds) or supplementary based on their prevalence in the population, and gain and loss rates. We created a catalog of well-marked animals, defined as individuals with at least two reliable marks (55% of the images analyzed for this purpose). It contained photographs of the right side of 57 individuals and the left side of 40 individuals. There were 16 individuals with resightings over a 23-mo period. Future field surveys should use digital cameras with long lenses and fast shutter speeds in areas where dolphins are conspicuous when surfacing.

La prevención del consumo de drogas se ha enfocado en su mayoría en personas jóvenes basándose históricamente en los índices de mortalidad de esta población, dejando aparte las personas que sobreviven a esta problemática y que con el tiempo se convierten en personas mayores, con necesidades específicas que no son contempladas por la comunidad científica, ni organismos de atención en salud. Estas necesidades a futuro serán objetivos para la salud en una población de mayores que va en crecimiento. En este estudio se evaluaron y describieron las necesidades específicas de personas mayores de 50 años usuarias de drogas por medio de análisis temático, se encontraron 13 temáticas de necesidades relacionadas con las actuales dimensiones de atención en salud, y una no contemplada en las mismas, y de estas 14 necesidades, 3 se repitieron en diferentes dimensiones. La atención dedicada al tema de las drogodependencias tiene vacios muy grandes que merecen la gestión y continua evaluación, entre estas la necesidad de mejorar la cobertura institucional, fomentar el trato ético por parte de los profesionales relacionados con la salud, generar nuevos espacios para atender nuevas necesidades, y la inclusión activa de la población como una con características específicas.

As UNESCO indicates ""The Decade of the United Nations for the education with a view to the sustainable development tries to promote the education as foundation of a more viable society for the humanity and to integrate the sustainable development in the system of school education to all the levels”. In essence it proposes to stimulate a solidarity education that contributes to a correct perception of the world state, generate attitudes and responsible behaviors and preparefor the decision making towards the achievement of a cultural plural and physically sustainable development. This way the UPC has developed in its new study plan of studies, a system of generic competitions solved in seven levels: entrepreneur and innovation, sustainability and social understanding, third language, efficient oral and writing communication, team work, solvent use of the resources of information, autonomous learning. With this, as a base of investigation, a group of indicators where developed under the EMAS Project umbrella; that would give the university a system to assess the educational processes that promote the competition in SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT. Nevertheless, as sustainability is not based on a linear definition, but on the comprehension of the interconnections between the different aspects that it concerns, the indicators needed to give answer from different dimensions. That is to say, it where developed a range of indicators that concerned the different degrees of conscience and knowledge that can be acquired during an educational process. These, took into account on one hand the conceptual knowledge acquired and on the other, the personal values, attitudes, behaviors developed during an educational process and finally the coherence the students had between them at the end of the course. Having the previous in account there where developed 5 different indicators (Sustainability Credits Implication, Sustainability Students Internalizing, Professional Activity, Sustainability Investigation Implication, Sustainability Promotion and Diffusion Activities) which evaluate different scopes of the education for the sustainability from the school. The development of this Project has been framed under the rules of the utility, practicality, extension possibilities and continuity at the university. Also it has taken into account the different methodologies for obtaining the data needed for the indicators. Until now the results are being of satisfaction because of the easy -way of use in the different campus of the university and schools but also by the easy way of interpretation and understanding.

Abstract: The island of Sicily has served as one of the most important and common settings for the narrative of the Risorgimento. Italian literature dedicated to narrating the events of the country’s period of unification seems to be somewhat obsessed with this island, which has been created and recreated in novels, novelle and short stories written by both Sicilian and northern writers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the land, culture and population of Sicily are depicted in three key narrative texts of the twentieth century to see how they may participate of the cultural, social, political and literary phenomenon known as Meridionalismo, which, we intend to prove, may be compared in attitude and scope to Orientalism (as described by Edward Said). We will limit ourselves to these three twentieth century narrations written: Lampedusa’s Il Gattopardo, Sciascia’s Il quarantotto and De Cataldo’s I traditori all deal with the events of 1860 and the process of the Risorgimento as it occurred in Sicily and they were all written by men born in the South but that were writing from the North. We will attempt to see whether the social and cultural stereotypical representations of Sicily that characterized much of Meridionalist literature are present in these texts and, if so, how they may or may not connect the literature written about the Meridione by southern writers with the literature written about the Orient. Resumen: La isla de Sicilia ha sido uno de los escenarios más comunes e importantes de las narraciones del Risorgimento, el movimiento de unificación nacional de Italia. Autores Sicilianos y de otras regiones del país han creado y recreado obsesivamente la isla. El propósito de este artículo es explorar la manera en la que la tierra, la cultura y la población de Sicilia son representadas en tres textos narrativos del siglo veinte para analizar de qué manera éstos participan del fenómeno literario conocido como Meridionalismo, que puede ser comparado con el Orientalismo (como lo describió Edward Said). El artículo se limitará a El gatopardo de Lampedusa, El cuarenta y ocho de Sciascia y I traditori de De Caraldo. Estas novelas se centran en los hechos de 1860 y el proceso de Risorgimento mientras atravesaba Sicilia. Las tres fueron escritas por autores del sur de Italia que escribían desde el norte. El artículo explorará si los estereotipos culturales y sociales que caracterizan la literatura Meridionalista estám presentes en estos textos y, si sí, cómo puedenn conectar la literatura escrita sobre el Meridione con la escrita sobre el Oriente.

Con un año de retraso y dos veces el presupuesto original, el parque del “Milenio” abrio sus puertas a los habitantes de la ciudad de Chicago durant el pasado verano (2004). Este es uno de tantos proyectos de rahabilitación urban que a nivel mundial se desarrollaron antes o después del cambio de siglo. Otros mega-proyectos, de alto impacto urbano y asociados a celebraciones especiales han sido las instalaciones y escenarios deportivos para celebrar las olimpiadas. Unos y otros han requerido el esfuerzo del capital público y privado para sacar adelante obras para embellecer y volver más atractiva a la inversión en las grandes urbes modernas del nuevo y el viejo contienente. A excepcion de las residencias para los atletas asociados a la celebración de las olimpiadas han sido pocos los proyectos, durante los últimos treinta años, que han ampliado significativamente el inventario habitacional. Por el contrario muchos de estos proyectos, de inversion y embellecimiento urbano, generan plusvalias y valorizaciones que desplazan y afectan principalmente a propietarios e inquilinos de bajos ingresos. El documento sugiere que no es suficiente la existencia de un marco institucional y una política de vivienda, sino que se requiere de una efectiva y eficiente voluntad política para ampliar las opciones de vivienda a todos los segmentos de ingresos. Adicionalmente se requiere de autoridades conocedores y receptivas que puedan ver a través del “espejismo”de las bonanzas del mercado inmobiliario, como se exasperan la condiciones de vida y se amplia la demanda de vivienda barata y asequible. Finalmente en el documento se exploran argumentos que sugieren la conveneincia de una ciudad que incluya opciones habitacionales para todas las familias e individuos trabajadores, y el buen negocio económico que representa ampliar la oferta de vivienda en propiedad o arriendo para la demanda de vivienda de las familias de ingresos medios y bajos urbanos. Finalmente el documento sugiere la razón del ser de la rama ejecutiva del gobierno. La ejecución de proyectos de inversión que mejoren la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos debe ser la referencia por la cual se evalué la gestión de los gobernantes y de las autoridades sectoriales. Basta de maquillajes políticos y manos a la obra.

The paper discusses an RCC dam project where an exposed geomembrane system was installed in 2002 and has been successfully performing for now 13 years. The RCC dam, Miel I, is located in Colombia with 188 m high, and the dam is used for power production. The RCC mix has a cement content of 85 to 160 kg/m3. To meet contractual schedule, the original design of an upstream face made of slip formed reinforced concrete was changed to a Carpi drained exposed PVC geocomposite system, placed on a 0.4 m thick zone of RCC material enriched with cement grout and vibrated. Placement of the geocomposite system in horizontal stages allowed starting dam impoundment while RCC placement was still ongoing at higher elevation. The geocomposite system was completed in 2002, before complementary concrete works were finished. ISAGEN, the owner of the dam, constantly monitors the dam and the geocomposite system. The measured leakage has never surpassed the historical values, or overcome the maximum allowed drainage design values. After 11 years of good performance, in 2013 ISAGEN decided to have a comprehensive monitoring of the general conditions and weathering behaviour of the geocomposite system. Objectives of the investigation were to assess the reason of small cuts that had been detected and repaired (in total 15 in 11 years on a 31,000 square meters surface), to assess the conditions of the PVC geocomposite, ascertaining at which extent its characteristics had changed over service, and to evaluate if the weathering behaviour was in accordance with the expected durability. Inspection at the upstream face and in the drainage galleries was followed by sampling and testing of the exposed geocomposites in the laboratory, to compare the physical and chemical properties of the aged geocomposite sample collected at the dam with those of the same geocomposite as manufactured. Evaluation of test results, based also on most recent research on geomembrane weathering mechanisms, completed the investigation. Results confirmed that the behaviour of the PVC geocomposite is extremely good and fully in line with expectations. The performance of the dam in 2015, after 13 years of service, keeps being extremely satisfactory. The paper will describe the geocomposite system installed at the dam, and then discuss all steps of the investigation, and detail the test results and the conclusions drawn.

Abstract: Its high-risked operations, risk-taking mentality and multiple obstacles, namely technical capabilities, geological uncertainty, political risks, financial strengths, and complex regulations, globally define the Oil and Gas industry. The industry constantly uses Joint Operating Agreements to allocate the aforementioned risks between the parties, thus spreading costs and risks as well as benefits. The principle of sharing costs and risks is the cornerstone of these agreements and therefore all petroleum operations conduct jointly, but as every general rule, there is an exception for it. When pass mark is not reached within the Operating Committee a particular project may be undertaken at sole risk, taking into account that all consequences derived from sole risk operations are to be borne by the sole riskers, including environmental consequences. Having said that, this paper addresses the fundamentals, benefits and pitfalls of the sole risk operations in the United Kingdom, but it specially measures in practice if the sole riskers are financially capable to respond timely and sufficiently to any consequence. To achieve the foregoing, the next chapters will develop the fundamentals of sole risk operations, main features of the United Kingdom JOA model and the conclusions, anticipating to the readers that it might be risky to allow any member to a JOA to conduct sole risk activities. Resumen: Las operaciones de alto riesgo, su mentalidad de asumir riesgos y múltiples obstáculos, a saber, capacidades técnicas, incertidumbre geológica, riesgos políticos, fortalezas financieras y regulaciones complejas, definen globalmente la industria del petróleo y el gas. La industria utiliza constantemente Acuerdos de Operación Conjunta para asignar los riesgos antes mencionados entre las partes, extendiendo así los costos y los riesgos, así como los beneficios. El principio de compartir costos y riesgos es la piedra angular de estos acuerdos y, por lo tanto, todas las operaciones petroleras se llevan a cabo conjuntamente, pero como toda regla general, existe una excepción. Cuando no se alcanza la marca de aprobación dentro del Comité Operativo, un proyecto particular puede emprenderse a riesgo exclusivo, teniendo en cuenta que todas las consecuencias derivadas de las operaciones de riesgo exclusivo deben ser asumidas por los tomadores del riesgo, incluidas las consecuencias ambientales. Dicho esto, este documento aborda los fundamentos, beneficios y dificultades de las operaciones de riesgo exclusivo en el Reino Unido, pero especialmente mide en la práctica si los risk-takers son financieramente capaces de responder oportuna y suficientemente a cualquier consecuencia. Para lograr lo anterior, los próximos capítulos desarrollarán los fundamentos de las operaciones de riesgo exclusivo, las principales características del modelo JOA del Reino Unido y las conclusiones, anticipándose a los lectores que podría ser arriesgado permitir que cualquier miembro de un JOA lleve a cabo actividades de riesgo exclusivo.

Abstract: The existence of an undeniable nexus between the mining industry and development of the countries is fundamental to comprehend the balance required to offset environmental concerns while developing. To mitigate the environmental impact of development, instruments such as carbon bonds and cap-and-trade system are in place. Their performance and outcome may be debatable on a country-specific basis, but some benefits must be acknowledged. To do so, a historical approach is conducted to analyse their effectiveness in a global context and their basics are explained, preceded by stating that mining is regarded an act of development and that concerns on development-environmental trade-offs are governmental responsibilities. In light of previous considerations some conclusions are made, anticipating that the examined mechanisms have proven success but should have broader scopes and more effective implementation, if global achievements are expected. Resumen: La existencia de un nexo innegable entre la industria minera y el desarrollo de los países es fundamental para comprender el balance que se requiere para compensar las preocupaciones ambientales mientras se desarrollan. Para mitigar el impacto ambiental del desarrollo, instrumentos como los bonos de carbón y el sistema cap-and-trade tienen lugar. Su desempeño y resultado puede ser debatible según el país en particular, pero se deben reconocer algunos beneficios. Para ello, se realiza un enfoque histórico para analizar su efectividad en un contexto global y se explican sus conceptos básicos, precedidos por la afirmación de que la minería se considera un acto de desarrollo y que las preocupaciones sobre el desarrollo y las compensaciones ambientales son responsabilidades gubernamentales. A la luz de consideraciones previas, se hacen algunas conclusiones, anticipando que los mecanismos examinados han tenido éxito, pero deberían tener alcances más amplios y una implementación más efectiva, si se esperan logros globales.

The end of a thermal inflation era, driven by the rolling of a flaton fi eld coupled to the curvaton, cause a huge increase in the curvaton mass and decay rate while the curvaton is still frozen. It is shown that, if this increase is enough for the curvaton to immediately decay, low scale in inflation with Hubble parameter.

The main objective of this paper is to prove that spatial connectivity can be an effective spatial indicator for monitoring and evaluating the recovery process after the event of an earthquake. It integrates variables such as distance, travel time and quality of public transport service. We hypothesize that there is a relationship between the connectivity to the central business districts in cities, and the satisfaction with the locations of new settlements assigned to the homeless population during a recovery process. If this hypothesis holds true, then the satisfaction with new settlements will be correlated with the inhabitants’ preference to either stay, or to search for a new site. This will then support the evaluation of the success of a recovery process. To prove this relationship we investigated the twelve months recovery process in L’Aquila in Italy. Spatial data sets were used and analyzed using GIS. Fieldwork data and interviews were conducted in order to investigate the satisfaction of persons living in newly established places outside of the city. We compared the strength of the desire of the interviewees to move away, against the travel distance and travel time to the city center. The statistical analysis reveals that the preference to search for another place was significantly correlated with the distance between new settlements and the city center of L’Aquila. To a lesser degree it was correlated with the travel time. The regression indicated that the distance between the new settlements and the inner city strongly influences the preference to either stay or to move.