Operational change as a profitable cleaner production tool for a brewery

The development and implementation of new procedures and operational changes in the production processes constitutes a powerful tool for the practical application of Cleaner Production in industries. In this work an operational change (new procedure) was developed for the elaboration of a type of beer which uses sugar as malt adjunct. The change consists in processing separately the three main components of the beer wort: malt extract, sugar and water, and use them properly in a different sequence than that used up to date in the traditional process. The new procedure was successfully assayed on industrial scale in Tínima brewery, located in Camagüey, Cuba, obtaining a good quality beer, technological and economical advantages with benefits for the environment, registering significant savings in energy (49%), sugar (4%), water (7%) and caustic soda (3%) consumption; and diminishing the surplus hot water (74%), waste generation (11%) and greenhouse gases emission (21%). Beer production capacity is increased also almost three times. With the application of the new technology to the Cuban beer type of 8 °P, it was achieved a total saving of US$ 481.83/1000 hL of beer produced.     

Does bird species diversity vary among forest types? A local-scale test in Southern Chile

Birds are the most diverse vertebrate group in Chile, characterized by low species turnover at the country-size scale (high alpha but low beta diversities), resembling an island biota. We tested whether this low differentiation is valid at a local scale, among six forest habitat types. We detected 25 bird species; avifauna composition was significantly different among habitat types, with five species accounting for 60 % of the dissimilarity. We found a higher level of bird assemblage differentiation across habitats at the local scale than has been found at the country-size scale. Such differentiation might be attributed to structural differences among habitats.     

Exploring fisheries strategies for the western English Channel using an ecosystem model

An ecosystem model of the western English Channel ecosystem in 1994 was used to explore the effects of the use of a fishing policy optimization routine on profits, number of jobs and ecosystem structure. The optimization for single objective led to the specialization of the fishing fleet, with some fleet types being almost excluded. The profits and mainly the job optimizations led to big changes in the ecosystem structure, with loss of diversity, but the overall biomass of all vertebrate groups represented in the model increased considerably. For the objective focusing on ecosystem structure, there was an increase in biodiversity, with many long-lived groups predicted to increase, although the overall vertebrate biomass suffered just a small increase. An “ideal” mixed policy configuration was found when slightly greater weight was given to ecosystem structure than was given to profits and jobs. This scenario led to an overall reduction in effort but also to increased profits and biodiversity, while keeping the number of jobs at the same level as the baseline estimates. The results of the optimizations showed that the average trophic level of the catches is quite resistant to changes in the underlying system structure. On the other hand, despite the high level of aggregation of the model structure, a biodiversity index estimated by the model presented large changes as a function of the weights placed on the single policy functions, reflecting the changes in the system structure. The output of the application of the fishing optimization presented here should be considered in qualitative rather than in quantitative terms as an aid and part contribution to the complicated discussions on future long term management actions. Nonetheless it points to an overall reduction in fishing capacity, an objective widely accepted within the scientific community, while keeping the fishery in a profitable state.     

Do great tits rely on inadvertent social information from blue tits? A habitat selection experiment

Sympatric species sharing requirements are competitors, but recent evidence suggests that heterospecifics may also be used as a source of information. The heterospecific habitat copying hypothesis proposes that individuals of one species might use information inadvertently produced by the breeding performance of individuals of other species to assess habitat quality whenever the two species share needs. In this study, we provide the first experimental test of this hypothesis by examining whether the manipulated reproductive success of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) is used as heterospecific inadvertent social information (ISI) in breeding-habitat selection by sympatric great tits (Parus major). The reproductive success of blue tits was manipulated 1year at the scale of patches by transferring nestlings from decreased to increased patches. No evidence was found of great tits using the reproductive success of blue tits as a source of heterospecific ISI. However, dispersal decisions by adult great tits correlated with information on con- and heterospecific densities, which constitute other sources of ISI. As density and breeding performance are tightly intertwined forms of information, the difficulty in distinguishing between them might lead great tits to use heterospecific ISI more in the form of density than breeding performance when making dispersal decisions.     

Sperm polymorphism and genetic divergence in the mussel Perumytilus purpuratus

For the first time in a marine bivalve species, geographic intraspecific variation in sperm morphology in the Chilean mussel, Perumytilus purpuratus, is reported. Samples were obtained in December 2010 from the rocky intertidal at three locations: Antofagasta (23o44′01.08′′S, 70o26′26.11′′W), Valparaíso (32o57′23.07′′S, 71o33′01.86′′W), and Valdivia (39°50′44.26′′S, 73°25′51.99′′W). Scanning electron microscopy was used to describe sperm traits, and genetic data were obtained by sequencing a 16S mtDNA 427-bp fragment. The results showed geographic intraspecific variation with two statistically significant patterns of genetically differentiated sperm morphologies. One genetic clade was found for Antofagasta and Valparaíso, displaying a unique sperm morphotype with a short acrosome accounting for 26 % of the head length, and the other from Valdivia, with a larger acrosome occupying 47 % of the head length. These results will lead to new research to distinguish among alternative hypotheses: the presence of cryptic species, incipient speciation, or a polymorphism in sperm traits of P. purpuratus.     

Microbial biomass and activity in a Brazilian soil amended with untreated and composted textile sludge

This laboratory study examines the effect of application of untreated and composted textile sludge on microbial biomass and activity in a Brazilian soil. The soil was amended with untreated and composted sludge at rates equivalent of 6.4t ha(-1) (0.64 g per 100g of soil) and 19t ha(-1) (1.90 g per 100g of soil), respectively, and were incubated at 28 degrees C for 60 days and daily sampled for microbial activity. An additional experiment, in the same condition, was conduced for evaluation of microbial biomass and enumeration of microorganisms at 15, 30 and 60 days after incubation. The application of composted sludge increased significantly the microbial biomass and activity, and bacteria number of soil. There were not differences in the microbial activity and bacteria number among the control and untreated sludge amended soils. In conclusion, after 2 months of incubation, the effects of the two amendments on soil microorganisms were: microbial biomass, soil respiration and bacteria number were increased only in composted sludge treated soil. qCO2 and fungi number were not affected by untreated and composted sludge.     

A review of the contributions of Albert Einstein to Earth Sciences—in commemoration of the World Year of Physics

The World Year of Physics (2005) is an international celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s “Annus Mirabilis.” The United Nations has officially declared 2005 as the International Year of Physics. However, the impact of Einstein’s ideas was not restricted to physics. Among numerous other disciplines, Einstein also made significant and specific contributions to Earth Sciences. His geosciences-related letters, comments, and scientific articles are dispersed, not easily accessible, and are poorly known. The present review attempts to integrate them as a tribute to Einstein in commemoration of this centenary. These contributions can be classified into three basic areas: geodynamics, geological (planetary) catastrophism, and fluvial geomorphology. Regarding geodynamics, Einstein essentially supported Hapgood’s very controversial theory called Earth Crust Displacement. With respect to geological (planetary) catastrophism, it is shown how the ideas of Einstein about Velikovsky’s proposals evolved from 1946 to 1955. Finally, in relation to fluvial geodynamics, the review incorporates the elegant work in which Einstein explains the formation of meandering rivers. A general analysis of his contributions is also carried out from today’s perspective. Given the interdisciplinarity and implications of Einstein’s achievements to multiple fields of knowledge, we propose that the year 2005 serve, rather than to confine his universal figure within a specific scientific area, to broaden it for a better appreciation of this brilliant scientist in all of his dimensions.