In the thrust to shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable options, Ecuador produces African palm-based biodiesel, which is currently imported by the Unites States. An analysis of this specific interaction was done via personal contact with the industry in Ecuador and extensive literature review of the topic. The results...
This dissertation investigates the problem of uncertainty in complex ecological models. The term "complex" is used to convey both the common and scientific meanings. Increasingly, ecological models have become complex because they are more complicated; ecological models are generally multi-variate and multi-leveled in structure. Many ecological models are complex because...
Equipment and procedures for the rapid measurement of the water vapor
permeability of polymer films and food coatings has been evaluated. The
method uses an electronic sensor to measure the concentration increase in
water vapor diffusing through a film into a chamber of known volume. Air of
known humidity is...
RNA silencing plays a critical role in plant defense against viral infection. Plants use virusderived
small interfering RNA to target and silence invading viruses. The antiviral silencing
pathway can be broken down into three conceptual stages: initiation, amplification, and systemic
movement. The molecular mechanisms of silencing initiation are not well...
Propose a sampling plan to determine Hg contamination in the Nanay river basin.
The sampling plan is for a feasibility pilot, to investigate whether it is possible to safely collect samples for Hg analyses. Future studies will build on these initial results.
In CIAT, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, located
in Palmira, Colombia, a series of experiments were conducted to study
the biology and control of mudplantain (Heteranthera reniformis Ruiz
et Pavon), a member of Pontederiaceae family.
Mudplantain is a perennial aquatic plant which reproduces by both
seeds and stolons. It is...
Diverse scientific fields collect multiple time series data to investigate the dynamical behavior of complex systems: atmospheric and climate science, geophysics, neuroscience, epidemiology, ecology, and environmental science. Identifying patterns of mutual dependence among such data generates valuable knowledge that can be applied either for inferential or forecasting purposes. Vector autoregressive...
This paper, that follows from the ongoing Ecost project, departs from the reality of marine biodiversity degradation in the Caribbean. It first enquires how local fishing communities appreciate and measure the degradation of marine biodiversity. In this connection, it asks whether communities have social and cultural attachments to particular species....
New methods, sensors, and devices based on redox indicators were developed to
monitor redox conditions in anoxic and anaerobic laboratory systems and the subsurface
environment. The primary application was monitoring redox conditions
during the dechlorination of tetrachioroethene (PCE) to ethene (ETH) in packed
columns and microcosm bottles containing an enriched...