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Papers on nanotechnology in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) database were studied bibliometrically. The terms 'nanotechnology', 'nanoparticle', 'graphene', 'fullerene', 'nanotube' and 'quantum dot' were used for the search in their singular and plural forms in three languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish), and a total of 1205 papers were selected for the study to assess the frequency rates of the study variables. The results of the study are presented in this article focusing on gender differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of security and computer privacy has become a significant focus in security and privacy research. To reflect a website's, service's, or app's privacy policies, they're frequently used as a beginning step for researchers investigating the reliability of stated data regulations, user comprehension of policy, or user control methods. It's challenging to collect information about privacy practices from Internet resources like websites and mobile applications for analysis because of the wide variations in the structure, presentation, and content. Most computer privacy studies attempt to test new methods for detecting, classifying, and analyzing computer privacy content. However, numerous papers have been published to promote research activities, and no trace of any bibliometric analysis work on computer privacy demonstrates research trends. By conducting a thorough analysis of computer privacy studies, it searches the Scopus database, which contains over 2000 papers published between 1976 and 2020. Using the bibliometric analysis technique, this study examines research activity in Europe, South America, and other continents. This work investigated the number of papers published, citations, research area, keywords, institutions, topics, and researchers in detail. An overview of the research efforts is followed by listing the words into a classification of computer privacy analysis tools, emphasizing the significance of a computer privacy research study. According to the investigation findings, there are numerous significant implications of research efforts in Europe compared to other continents. Finally, we summarize the review findings for each part by highlighting potential future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a narrative dataset constructed by David and Leigh (A new action-based dataset of fiscal consolidation in latin America and the caribbean, IMF Working paper 18/94, 2018) for annual fiscal consolidation shocks, this paper estimates the dynamic effects of fiscal consolidations on income inequality from Jordá's (Am Econo Rev 95:161–82, (2005)) local projections method for nine South American economies in the 1991–2017 period. By decomposing fiscal shocks, the baseline results suggest that spending-based fiscal consolidations significantly increase the Gini index, while tax-based fiscal consolidations do not show statistically significant effects on income inequality. The Gini index for disposable income rises 2.48% in eight years after a spending-based fiscal adjustment of 1% of GDP. The magnitude of this effect is higher than in most of the previous studies carried out for OECD countries. Our main finding for the impact of spending-based fiscal consolidation on inequality in the medium run is robust when using alternative control variables, lag structures, country samples, and the Cyclically Adjusted Primary Balance strategy for identifying the fiscal shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the study on the role of plant foods in ancient trade and agriculture in South America conducted by researcher Linda Perry. The methods and process she used in identifying the remains of ground-up corn in soil and tools collected from a house buried in the Andean mountains of Peru was mentioned. She used the microfossils starch grains and silica phytoliths in identifying ancient plant remains.

The article offers information on Sustainability Science Best Paper Awards 2017 given by the journal to research that covers current and future priorities for sustainability science. Topics include information on winning papers, such as one related to role of transdisciplinary research by Lotten Westberg; the "Human responses to social-ecological traps" by Wiebren Johannes Boonstra; and "Local ecological knowledge and incremental adaptation to changing flood patterns in the Amazon delta."

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key process linking surface and atmospheric energy budgets, yet its drivers and patterns across wetlandscapes are poorly understood worldwide. Here we assess the ET dynamics in 12 wetland complexes across South America, revealing major differences under temperate, tropical, and equatorial climates. While net radiation is a dominant driver of ET seasonality in most environments, flooding also contributes strongly to ET in tropical and equatorial wetlands, especially in meeting the evaporative demand. Moreover, significant water losses through wetlands and ET differences between wetlands and uplands occur in temperate, more water-limited environments and in highly flooded areas such as the Pantanal, where slow river flood propagation drives the ET dynamics. Finally, floodplain forests produce the greatest ET in all environments except the Amazon River floodplains, where upland forests sustain high rates year round. Our findings highlight the unique hydrological functioning and ecosystem services provided by wetlands on a continental scale. Wetlands can affect regional climate by altering surface-atmosphere interactions. This paper investigates drivers and patterns of evapotranspiration in South American wetlands, from the Amazon floodplains to the large Pantanal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue has a long history. It goes back to a conference in July 2017 organized by Cláudia Lima Marques in Porto Alegre Brazil, the first of the Center of European and German Studies (CDEA–DAAD). Cláudia Lima Marques managed to bring together consumer lawyers from many South American States. From there it was a long way down to find support for a special issue, to incentivize colleagues and to get at least some of the papers translated from Spanish into English. Here, Laís Bernstein laid the ground, in both substance and procedure. In 2018, Maria Ana Barata stepped in and organized the process of discussion with the authors in Spanish and Portuguese. The various rounds of debate finally led to a successful outcome. That is why Maria Ana Barata deserves to be the lead author in the introduction. All this would not have sufficed if Christopher Goddard had not brought the mixture of non–native English, German, Portuguese and Spanish into a readable format. Hans–W. Micklitz accompanied conceptualization of the conference and the making of the Special Issue from beginning to end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bucaramanga seismic nest has the highest concentration in volume of intermediate depth seismic events with light and moderate magnitudes (Mb > 4.8) worldwide. Despite the nest depth (Zhypo ≥ 100 km), these events play a crucial role in the seismic hazard assessment for several cities in northern South America (NoSAm), particularly those situated close to their epicenters. Moreover, these earthquakes are widely felt across the country, even hundreds of kilometers away from the nest. This paper assesses the performance of commonly used subduction intraslab Ground Motion Models (GMMs) in predicting the updated nest database gathered and processed by the Colombian Geological Survey. This analysis confirms the necessity of a partially non-ergodic ground motion model for estimating the spectral accelerations produced by Bucaramanga nest earthquakes in northern South America. The GMM presented herein is the first model developed specifically for seismic nests in the region and is conceived as a regionalization of the recent NGA-Sub Abrahamson and Gülerce (Earthq Spectra 38(4):2638−2681, 2022) GMM. Additionally, we provide estimates of the variance components at both the earthquake and station levels and compare the developed GMM with the spectral accelerations recorded for typical earthquakes, for the highest magnitude earthquake in the database, and for a recent Bucaramanga nest earthquake having a moment magnitude over 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence of the Nubian plate toward Eurasia and the spreading rate between the Nubian and South American plates are currently subjects of scientific debates. In this paper, we improve the estimation of Euler pole parameters and the recent relative velocities of the Nubian plate using Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities. These estimates are based on mathematical models and statistical tests for plate tectonic motion represented on a spherical surface. First, we derive the angular velocity and the precise coordinates of the Euler pole to describe the Nubian plate absolute motion expressed in the ITRF2014 geodetic system. This derivation is obtained by inverting the horizontal velocities of 202 GPS stations well distributed across the Nubian plate. Then, we use the same data to obtain the current relative velocities and parameters of the Euler pole characterizing the Nubia–Eurasia and Nubia–South America relative plate motion. A number of 21 and 29 GPS stations located on tectonically stable domains are used to fix the Eurasian and the South American plates, respectively. The results show Nubia–Eurasia relative velocities ranging from 1 to 7 mm/yr, with a direction of NW to WNW for the northern Nubian plate. The velocity in the southern part of this plate reveals a NNE to N direction. The inversion of these velocities allows the determination of the Euler pole parameters: the coordinates P Nub - Eu λ Nub - Eu = - 23.17 ∘ ± 0.92892 ; φ Nub - Eu = - 5.62 ∘ ± 0.72322 and the angular velocity Ω Nub - Eu = 0.053 ∘ / M y r ± 0.00101 . On the other hand, the estimated relative velocity of Nubia–South America is varying in the range of 15–30 mm/yr, with a NE to ENE direction and rotating around the pole P Nub - SA λ Nub - SA = - 44.5263 ∘ ± 0.57624 , φ Nub - SA = 66.7484 ∘ ± 0.16524 with an angular velocity Ω Nub - SA = 0. 26689 ∘ / M yr ± 0.0007 . The obtained research results demonstrate an improved precision compared to the existing studies. Furthermore, the use of the Algerian GPS velocities played a key role in the enhancement of the estimates' precision, which allows us to better understand and monitor the crustal deformations at the limit of the plates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Offshoring of pulpwood production outside Europe is more and more common, which increases transport distances and also changes production technologies, raw material supply and energy production profiles. In this paper, we aim to compare the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of pulp production from Finnish boreal hardwood and from South American eucalyptus. Special emphasis was placed on analysing the contribution of transport to overall climate impacts. Materials and methods: A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as the system modelling tool. The impact assessment was limited to climate change. Finnish and South American industrial data were combined with data from LCA databases in the life cycle inventory (LCI). Results and discussion: Based on the results, offshoring of pulp production would decrease the global greenhouse gas emissions of pulp production itself. However, transport to Europe outweighs the benefit even if transported by energy efficient ships. In this case study, transportation accounted for 27% of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of South American pulp shipped to Europe. Conclusions: Outsourcing of biomass production offers opportunities for emission reductions. Such a conclusion may be valid if the distances between biomass production and upgrading processes were relatively short. However, this study reveals that the offshoring of biomass production contributes to a significant growth of transport emissions. The trend of offshoring provides challenges for the implementation of emission trading since the responsibility of countries to transoceanic transport is still unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of biological invasions remain poorly known for some habitats, regions and taxa. To date, there has been no comprehensive effort to review and synthesize the impacts of invasive mollusc species in South America. In this paper, we provide a synoptic view on what is known on documented socio-ecological impacts of aquatic no-native mollusc species (NNMS) and transplanted mollusc species (TMS) from South America. An expert group involving malacologists and taxonomists from different countries, the "South America Alien Molluscs Specialists" (eMIAS), shared and summarized the scientific literature, databases, and published and unpublished information on confirmed impacts of NNMS and TMS in South America. Three broad categories, non-mutually exclusive were used as a framework: "Environmental/Biodiversity impacts", "Economic and social effects", and "Human health impacts". Some 21 NNMS and seven TMS have documented impacts on at least one of those three categories. We encourage targeting the less known areas of research, such as economic valuation of human health (and veterinary) impacts attributable to NNMS or TMS and expand our knowledge of environmental impacts for the species listed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chile is one of the worst countries in Latin America in terms of urban air pollution. This situation negatively affects the health and well-being of Chileans. This paper uses a non-traditional valuation method, based on life satisfaction perception, to estimate citizens' willingness to pay (WTP) for the reduction of air pollution in Chilean cities. We consider the annual average of PM10 and PM2.5 for 70 municipalities, including the main urban areas. An objective measure of air pollution is linked to a subjective measure of life satisfaction by using the main survey of households in Chile for cross-sectional socioeconomic data. According to our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in Latin American and, in the case of PM2.5 reductions, one of the first cases at the world level. We found that our estimation of WTP for reducing PM10 and PM2.5 emissions are significantly lower in Chilean cities than in most of the results found in the literature in other countries. However, when comparing this paper results to the ones from other Chilean studies, perspectives vary, e.g., our estimation of WTP for reducing MP10 is higher than one obtained when using the damage function approach but comparable to another obtained with the hedonic prices approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to look at the effects of mandated sharing on investment in the telecommunications sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Given the relevance of promoting suitable regulatory conditions to stimulate the huge investments required for the region to close its digital divide, this paper intends to provide inputs for the design of regulatory frameworks, particularly towards finding out the optimal levels of intervention. Our results suggest that sharing obligations have been linked with lower investment intensity in the region. Those results are robust to the addition of control variables which may also have an incidence on investment decisions, and to the treatment of possible endogeneity in the estimates. Further checks provide specific insights about the negative effect of mandated co-location obligations and mandated infrastructure sharing. As for local loop unbundling, it was found to have a negative effect on investment intensity only if introduced jointly with price regulation. As a result of the findings reported in this paper, we suggest that regulatory bodies in LAC should pursue light and flexible approaches in order to promote the much-needed investments. In particular, sharing decisions should be the result of voluntary agreements between those concerned, not because of imposed mandates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristic adjustment time scale τ is an important parameter in convective parameterization scheme. In this paper, we propose a dynamic calculation formula of τ in the Zhang–McFarlane scheme based on convective available potential energy (CAPE) in order to improve the simulation of precipitation. The performance of using the new formula is tested and evaluated using the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5) for numerical experiments. The results indicate that the root mean square errors of mean precipitation amount over the Northern Hemisphere eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the central Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, the Tibetan Plateau, and northern South America are reduced by 20.15, 16.40, 12.56, and 6.45% in summer, respectively, after a dynamic τ is adopted. The dynamically computed τ improves the Pacific Walker circulation by strengthening the western ascending and eastern descending, and increases the intensity of deep convective precipitation in tropical areas by at least 1 mm/day. Dynamic τ also increases the frequency of large deep convective precipitation in the equatorial Pacific by almost 50%, and decreases the frequency of light deep convective precipitation in many other regions. The dynamic τ has positive effects in the areas with large CAPE and spatiotemporal variability, and also leads to an increase in deep convective precipitation and a significant decrease in large-scale precipitation over high-altitude regions of windward slopes. Therefore, the generation of exaggerated precipitation in the highlands is reduced in the CAM5. Overall, the dynamic calculation of characteristic adjustment time scale can improve precipitation simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastal wetlands of northern Chilean Patagonia are relevant sites for the conservation of migratory waterbirds. The aim of this paper is to compare different marine coastal wetlands to identify which factors influence the structure of bird assemblages. Sediment samples were collected, and the birds were surveyed in four wetlands: Chullec, Curaco de Vélez and Quinchao on Quinchao Island, and Putemún on Chiloé Island in 4 seasonal sampling campaigns. The composition of the sediment did not change during the year, with a predominance of sandy sediments except in Putemún where gravel dominates. The size of the sediment particle decreased from the upper (0 to 30 m) to the lower (100 m) intertidal. The abundances of benthic organisms varied between intertidal levels in all wetlands and seasonally in Chullec and Curaco de Vélez, being lower during warm seasons. Thirty-four species of birds were recorded with Anatidae, Laridae and Scolopacidae showing the highest species richness. A principal component analysis clustered the wetlands of Quinchao Island and the variables that account for 35.8% of the variance are sandy sediments, the presence of Scolopacidae, Laridae, Furnariidae and Haematopodidae among birds and Polychaeta, Malacostraca and Enopla in the benthos. In the wetlands of Quinchao Island there was a relationship between the composition of the sediment, distribution, and type of benthic communities with the presence of some bird taxa. The bird assemblages change seasonally and were similar to each other during warm seasons, probably due to the availability of food for migratory birds and sediment characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although previous epidemiological studies have demonstrated that serum uric acid (SUA) is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), these analyses are prone to biases. Here, we applied the Mendelian Randomization approach to determine whether SUA is causally associated with MDD.Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between SUA and MDD, then applied summary data from the Global Urate Genetics Consortium and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium to estimate their causal effect using a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis. Thereafter, the causal effect was further researched using genetic risk scores (GRS) as instrumental variables (IVs).Results: Results of a meta-analysis of articles comprising 6975 and 13,589 MDD patients and controls, respectively, revealed that SUA was associated with MDD (SMD = -0.690, 95% CI: -0.930 to -0.440, I2 = 97.4%, P < 0.001). In addition, the five MR methods revealed no causal relationship existed between SUA and MDD, which corroborated the results obtained via the GRS approach.Conclusion: This paper found little evidence that this association between SUA and MDD is casual. Genetically, there was no significant causal association between SUA and MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South America is a high biodiversity continent with five out of 13 countries considered megadiverse. Many major groups within this fauna exhibit high diversity, including non-marine molluscs. With at least 1401 known species, South American molluscs are seriously understudied. The aim of this paper is to review the conservation status of non-marine molluscs in South America, pointing out significant gaps in knowledge and suggesting possible future directions. According to the most recent IUCN Red List only 231 South American non-marine molluscs have been evaluated, with 84 (36%) categorized as Data Deficient. The main knowledge gaps are in taxonomic inventory, especially in unexplored areas, information about current and historic distributions and population sizes, and basic ecological information. Implementation of integrative taxonomy, ecological and distributional studies, exploration of areas and groups as yet largely ignored, development of researcher networks and improvement of public and political awareness and concern about these important and diverse animals are necessary actions for conservation of non-marine molluscs in South America to have any chance of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South American Camelids (SACs) make several material and non-material contributions to people and are a key component of the Andean biocultural heritage. From the perspective of the IPBES' Conceptual Framework, SACs constitute the "nature" component in the complex system of interactions between human societies and the Andean mountain environment. There are four SAC living species today, two of which are wild, or Salqa, in the indigenous cosmovision: guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and vicuña (Vicugna vicugna). Llama (Lama glama) and alpaca (Vicugna pacos) were domesticated 5000 years ago, and are therefore Uywa, in the indigenous cosmovision. Both wild and domestic camelids were, and in several cases still are, the most highly appreciated resource for Andean livelihoods. Historically, camelids and their contributions have been used by Andean people since the peopling of the Americas over 11,000 years ago. In this paper, we present three case studies (chakus for vicuña management, llama caravans, and llama nanobodies) to bring attention to the essential role of vicuñas and llamas for Andean communities today, their intercultural linkages with the Western world, and telecoupling interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hoplias malabaricus (Bloch, 1794) is a carnivorous fish species widely distributed from northern to southern South America. This taxon is believed to be a good model for the investigation of biogeographic events that shape the ichthyofauna evolution in the Neotropical freshwater systems. However, many studies have revealed that H. malabaricus hides a species complex that hampers its taxonomic identity and limit its practical value for evolutionary and biogeographic studies. In this paper, we used the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) to delimit cryptic species and explore the phylogeography of H. malabaricus sensu stricto. We found genetic evidence for putative new species in the genus Hoplias and showed that H. malabaricus (Bloch, 1794) is a major clade assigned to barcode index number (BIN) BOLD:ABZ3047. This species is structured in six subpopulations differentiated by high Fst values and restricts gene flow. The subpopulations of the São Francisco/East Atlantic/Eastern Northeast Atlantic/Parnaíba/Itapecuru River basins and Tapajós River Basin were the most differentiated and showed demographic fluctuations. The present distributional pattern is most likely explained through a scenario from the Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a systematic review of the current scope of published behavioral research on flamingos (Phoenicopteridae), to answer the following questions: (1) what is the profile of ethology and behavioral research on flamingos, (2) which are the behaviors displayed by flamingos already observed and described in nature and captivity, and (3) what are the prospects in the ethological research of the group? Eighty-eight studies, from 1978 to 2020, met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Most involved maintenance and social behaviors in the context of ecology and welfare. Furthermore, most studies were performed on animals in captivity and controlled conditions, but there was a recent trend of studies in the field, mainly in South America and the Caribbean. The most studied species were greater and American flamingos, but there is a recent rise in studies on Chilean and Andean flamingos in Latin America. Most ethological studies on this group included quantitative analyses, ignoring a more qualitative perspective of the individuals' displays. Behavior description can also help in comparative studies between flamingo species and other water birds. Expanding research to Andean, James's, and lesser flamingos is a priority, since their populations are more vulnerable. Ethological research can help identify the threats and measure the impacts on these species, which can be useful for setting up management plans and conservation actions to mitigate the damage and avoid extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political participation is often conceived of as a largely individual act. In this paper we emphasize the context in which that choice is made: features of that context make some choices more likely than others both in terms of the decision to participate but also in terms of the kinds of participation in which to engage. In particular, we examine the role that social capital plays in shaping political participation in Latin America. We show that higher levels of social capital promote more conventional forms of political participation such as voting and contacting elected representatives. Given marked differences in levels of social capital across rural and urban areas we are therefore able to show that there exists a geography of political participation across Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a combination of bibliometric, social network and econometric approaches to increase our knowledge of how research institutions interact with the private sector in Latin America (LA). We first study recent trends in scientific output and specialization. On average, LA countries have been reducing the gap with the world leading regions. They have also tended to specialize in fields related to economic activities based on natural resources, such as Agricultural and Plant and Animal Sciences. However, collaborations with the private sector remain scarce. In this paper, we have built scientific networks composed by what we define as Research Departments (RD). These RDs belong to universities, research institutes and government agencies. We model the intensity of collaboration of a RD with industry as a function of its size, previous performance, and its position in the LA and national scientific networks. Our results show that the RDs which higher diversity of research partners in their national scientific network work more intensively with industry. Additionally, collaborations with industry are influenced by previous interactions with the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the role of various knowledge indicators, such as research and development, information and communication technologies and trade, in the economic growth and convergence performance of 17 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and 17 Latin American countries (LACs) during the 1980-2014 period, by utilizing dynamic panel data techniques like the pooled mean group estimation method. Our results indicate that knowledge variables seem to play an important role in the economic growth performances of both regions and, overall, there is a significant convergence among the countries in MENA and LACs. Nevertheless, our main finding is that the impact of the knowledge indicator in Latin American countries is weaker compared to the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the authors' insight on the paper "Are bird populations in tropical and subtropical forests of South America affected by climate change?," by M. Nores that was published in a 2009 issue of "Climatic Change." The authors say that the bird data underestimates the current number of birds in South American forests. They add that the methods used are unacceptable in the field of modern ornithology and the paper lacks insight on the possible climate change effects on birds in the forests.

The article offers the author's insight on comment of researchers P. C. Stouffer and colleagues on her paper on bird species' problems in South America. The author associates the flaws he has observed in the research by P. C. Stouffer and colleagues on the nonexistence of widespread decline of bird species in the protected forests in South America in his response. He concludes that the claim contains insufficient evidence to support their claim in the nonexistence of widespread bird declines.

The last two decades witnessed a rapid growth of publicly accessible online language resources. This has allowed for valuable data on lesser known languages to become available. Such resources provide linguists with opportunities for advancing their research. Yet despite the proliferation of lexical and morphological databases, the ca. 456 languages spoken in South America are poorly represented, particularly the Tupían family, which is the largest on the continent. This paper therefore introduces and discusses TuLeD, a lexical database exclusively devoted to a South American language family. It provides a comprehensive list of lexical items presented in a unified transcription for all languages with cognacy assignment and relevant (cultural or linguistic) notes. One of the main goals of TuLeD is to become a full-fledged database and a benchmark for linguistic studies on South American languages in general and the Tupían family in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel methodology in which an individual's optimization decisions are statistically decomposed into choices of systems, system-specific outcomes, and the overall outcome in an integrative framework. The methodology is applied to individuals' decisions on natural resource enterprises given climatic changes. This paper finds that when the Goddard Institute scenario comes to pass by the middle of this century, adoption of a crops-only enterprise will fall, so will adoption of a crops-forests enterprise. Instead, people will increase adoption of a livestock-only as well as a crops-livestock-forests enterprise. The impacts of climate change on the six enterprises are varied, which are calculated from the estimated models by altering climate variables. The crops-only enterprise will lose the value of land by 8.3 %. However, the livestock-only enterprise will gain by 8.9 %. The crops-livestock-forests enterprise also will gain largely by 7.8 %. The impacts on the other enterprises are muted, e.g., 1 % gain for the crops-livestock enterprise. The total damage under the scenario is expected to be a loss of 1.9 % of land value. Under a severer UK Met Office scenario, the damage is predicted to increase to 6.2 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates behavioral adaptation models to climate change using South American agricultural data. This paper finds that the Ricardian model with spatial effects leads to 20 % loss of land value under the UK Hadley center (UKMO hereafter) model and 11 % loss under the milder US Goddard Institute (GISS hereafter) model by the middle of the century. The micro portfolio adaptation model (G-MAP hereafter), on the other hand, results in a much smaller damage estimate: 1 % loss of land value under the GISS model and 3.4 % loss under the UKMO model. Even with the G-MAP model, however, the land value of the crops-only system falls sharply by as much as 9.5 % under the GISS scenario. In contrast to the Ricardian model, the G-MAP model can explicitly explain the decisions to choose one of the agricultural systems as well as the conditional land value function for each system of agriculture. Under the GISS model, the choice of a crops-only farm declines by 3.3 % which is offset by an increase in the mixed system by 2.1 % and an increase in the livestock-only system by 1.2 %. Although the land value of the crops-only system falls by 9.5 %, the land value of the mixed system falls only by 3.5 % while that of the livestock-only system increases by a large percentage. This paper finds that the differences in the impact estimates between the two models result from the treatment of sunk cost. The result from the Ricardian model would deviate from that from the G-MAP model if sunk cost is significantly large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With conventional monitoring at low-frequency, biological responses to weather-related events are missed. In this paper, we examine the chlorophyll-a concentrations in a shallow lake using high-frequency data from an in situ buoy. Also, we used monthly data of phytoplankton to relation high and low-frequency data. This is the first study about chlorophyll-a in high-frequency from a buoy in situ in South America. Significant minimums of chlorophyll-a concentration were detected, associated with episodic weather events in La Salada shallow lake. We present the data obtained from October 2012 to April 2015, and as an example analyzed some occasions in which these events of a significant minimum of Chlorophyll-a were detected. Extreme minimum values prevailed during winter months. We can conclude, the predominance of western winds registered, which (given the small size of the predominant species) could generate a spatial displacement (patches) of phytoplankton. Also, the high transparency conditions could affect phytoplankton by photo-inhibition. Chlorophyll-a concentrations returned to previous conditions after two days. This study suggests that the duration of western wind events and photo-inhibition with high water transparency could explain the spatial changes of phytoplankton communities. These results emphasize the importance of the analysis of high-frequency measurements in conjunction with meteorological variables to understand phytoplankton dynamics and sampling planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change impacts are already happening through the world, and it is now clear that there is the need for an adaptive response from global institutions down to the local level. Reducing vulnerability to cope with climate variability might be more challenging in tropical countries than in North America or Europe. The ten papers of this special issue were presented during the Adaptclim conference that was held by the Sinergia Project, the CLARIS LPB project, and the GeoData Institute in Asunción, Paraguay, in 2010. All papers, except one regarding the Brahmaputra Basin in South Asia, present studies from South America. These studies are first contextualized geographically and then are related one to another by a simplified vulnerability concept linking climate stress to sensitivity and adaptive capacity of natural and human systems. One half of the papers focus on actual or future climate change and the present-day causes of the vulnerability of natural and agrosystems. Droughts are and will be the main source of stress for agriculture in South America. Increasing fragmentation of forest of the center of this continent is aggravating their vulnerability to dry spells. Another half of the studies of this special issue deal with the adaptive capacity human populations to system perturbations produced or enhanced by climate change. The studies point out inclusion of traditional knowledge and involvement of local actors in their own vulnerability assessment to increase adaptive capacity. These elements of climate justice, giving voice to those less responsible for carbon emissions but bearing their most severe consequences, allow the particular needs of a community to be considered and can direct adaptation policy toward preserving or rebuilding their specific capabilities under threat from climate change. The special issue also made clear that a basin analysis of the climate change problem could provide information, results, and methods more readily of use for the local population and decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Choco low-level jet is among the main regional circulation mechanisms related to the advection of water vapor from the eastern Pacific to northwestern South America. Variations in the intensity of position of the jet core are identified as determinant for regional moisture transport and associated rainfall. This paper analyzes the annual cycle of intensity and latitudinal location of this jet according to different reanalysis and observational datasets. Moreover, we compare possible changes in the Choco jet occurred during past climates, like the little ice age (LIA), with those associated with future scenarios of greenhouse gas concentrations (RCP8.5), using simulations from the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Our results suggest that according to reanalysis/observational data, as well as the CMIP5 models with the best representation of the Choco jet in present climate, there is a positive correlation between the jet intensity and its latitudinal location, and such relationship is associated with the sea level pressure (SLP) difference between the eastern tropical Pacific and the northwestern South American landmass. Hence, stronger (weaker) SLP differences favor a stronger (weaker) intensity and a northward (southward) location of the Choco jet. PMIP3 simulations suggest a stronger and northward Choco jet during LIA due to a stronger SLP difference in comparison to present climate. However, under the RCP8.5 scenario, there is not robust agreement among CMIP5 models although the best models suggest a southward jet at the end of the 21st century. This suggests that the mechanisms influencing the Choco jet may play different roles during past natural climate changes with respect to anthropogenically-forced climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although debate continues, there is agreement that dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris) were first domesticated in Eurasia, spreading from there to other parts of the world. However, while that expansion already extended as far as Europe, China, and North America by the early Holocene, dogs spread into (and south of) the tropics only much later. In South America, for example, the earliest well-attested instances of their presence do not reach back much beyond 3000 cal. BC, and dogs were still absent from large parts of the continent-Amazonia, the Gran Chaco, and much of the Southern Cone-at European contact. Previous explanations for these patterns have focused on cultural choice, the unsuitability of dogs for hunting certain kinds of tropical forest prey, and otherwise unspecified environmental hazards, while acknowledging that Neotropical lowland forests witness high rates of canine mortality. Building on previous work in sub-Saharan Africa (Mitchell in Archaeol Res Afr 50:92-135, 2015), and noting that the dog's closest relatives, the grey wolf ( C. lupus) and the coyote ( C. latrans), were likewise absent from South and most of Central America in pre-Columbian times, this paper explores instead the possibility that infectious disease constrained the spread of dogs into Neotropical environments. Four diseases are considered, all likely to be native and/or endemic to South America: canine distemper, canine trypanosomiasis, canine rangeliosis, and canine visceral leishmaniasis caused by infection with Leishmania amazonensis and L. colombiensis. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which the hypothesis that disease constrained the expansion of dogs into South America can be developed further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the current archaeological, physiographic, demographic, molecular, and bioarchaeological understanding of the initial peopling and subsequent population dynamics of South America. Well-dated sites point to a colonization by relatively few broad-spectrum foragers from northeastern Asia between ~13,000 and 12,000 cal BC via the Panamanian Peninsula. By ~11,500–11,000 cal BC, a number of regional, specialized bifacial technologies were developed, with evidence for the seasonal scheduling of resources and the colonization of extreme environments. Restricted mobility, landscape modification, and the cultivation of domesticates were underway by ~8000 cal BC. The early migration routes followed by colonists resulted in a broad east-west population structure among ancient South Americans. Genetic, demographic, and skeletal morphological data indicate that a subsequent demographically driven dispersal into South America largely replaced preexisting central Andeans ~5000 BC, due to increased fertility associated with the shift to agriculture. Beyond the Andes, however, there is little evidence of impact of these later expansions on foragers and horticulturists of the Amazon and Southern Cone who were largely descended from Paleoindians and early Holocene populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), a highly destructive and fast spreading agricultural pest native to North and South America, poses a real threat to global food security. In this paper, to explore the dynamics and implications of fall armyworm outbreak in a field of maize biomass, we propose a new dynamical system for maize biomass and fall armyworm interaction via Caputo fractional-order operator, which is not only a nonlocal operator but also contains all characteristics concerned with memory of the dynamical system. We define the basic reproduction number, which represents the average number of newborns produced by one individual female moth during its life span. We establish that the basic reproduction number is a threshold quantity, which determines persistence and extinction of the pest. Finally, we simulate the Caputo system using the Adam–Bashforth–Moulton method to illustrate the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cox processes are natural models for point process phenomena that are environmentally driven, but much less natural for phenomena driven primarily by interactions amongst the points. The class of log-Gaussian Cox processes (LGCPs) has an elegant simplicity, and one of its attractive features is the tractability of the multivariate normal distribution carries over, to some extent, to the associated Cox process. In the statistical analysis of spatial point patterns, it is often assumed isotropy because of a simpler interpretation and ease of analysis. However, there are many cases in which the spatial structure depends on the direction. In this paper, we introduce new families of anisotropic spatial LGCPs that are useful to model spatial anisotropic point patterns that exhibit a degree of clustering. We propose classes of families consisting of elliptical and non-elliptical models. The former can be reduced to isotropic forms after some rotations, while the latter family goes beyond this property. We derive analytical forms for the covariance of the associated random field, and some second-order characteristics. A moment-based estimation procedure is followed to make inference on the parameters that control the degree of anisotropy. The estimation procedure is evaluated through a simulation study under a variety of scenarios and various degrees of anisotropy. Our methodology is illustrated on two real datasets of earthquakes in South America and the Mediterranean Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of climate simulations produced by the Brazilian Global Atmospheric Model version 1.2 (BAM-1.2) of the Center for Weather Forecast and Climate Studies (CPTEC). The model was run over the 1975–2017 period at two spatial resolutions, corresponding to ~ 180 and ~ 100 km, both with 42 vertical levels, following most of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) protocol. In this protocol, observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are used as boundary conditions for the atmospheric model. Four ensemble members were run for each of the two resolutions. A series of diagnostics was computed for assessing the model's ability to represent the top of the atmosphere (TOA) radiation, atmospheric temperature, circulation and precipitation climatological features. The representation of precipitation interannual variability, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) precipitation teleconnections, the Madden and Julian Oscillation (MJO) and daily precipitation characteristics was also assessed. The model at both resolutions reproduced many observed temperature, atmospheric circulation and precipitation climatological features, despite several identified biases. The model atmosphere was found to be more transparent than the observations, leading to misrepresentation of cloud-radiation interactions. The net cloud radiative forcing, which produces a cooling effect on the global mean climate at the TOA, was well represented by the model. This was found to be due to the compensation between both weaker longwave cloud radiative forcing (LWCRF) and shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCRF) in the model compared to the observations. The model capability to represent inter-annual precipitation variability at both resolutions was found to be linked to the adequate representation of ENSO teleconnections. However, the model produced weaker than observed convective activity associated with the MJO. Light daily precipitation over the southeast of South America and other climatologically similar regions was diagnosed to be overestimated, and heavy daily precipitation underestimated by the model. Increasing spatial resolution helped to slightly reduce some of the diagnosed biases. The performed evaluation identified model aspects that need to be improved. These include the representation of polar continental surface and sea ice albedo, stratospheric ozone, low marine clouds, and daily precipitation features, which were found to be larger and last longer than the observed features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of financial liberalization on the adjustment of debt ratios in 12 emerging markets using firm-level data from 1991 to 2004. The results support the central hypothesis of this paper that adjustment costs are important in explaining firms' adjustment toward their debt ratio targets. Our results show that deviations from targets are halved within 1.09 years in South America and 1.19 years in Southeast Asia, suggesting speed of adjustment is relatively faster in South American countries than Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, our results show that after full liberalization those countries where rule of law and creditors rights were properly enforced, firms had higher adjustment speed compared to those countries where such enforcement was not present.The estimated adjustment coefficients imply that on average firms' adjustment speeds have increased in all South American countries over the period of financial liberalization. On the contrary, firms' adjustment speeds did not increase in Southeast Asian countries, reflecting the uneven effect of liberalization on the firms' financing behaviour in Asian countries. There was a significant reduction in time (in years) taken to half the gap between actual debt ratios and targets only in Pakistan and South Korea. This finding supports the idea of uncertain impact of financial liberalization programs on the domestic financial markets in those emerging markets which started opening up their market and integrating with the rest of the world latter than others. These findings have significant implications for the sequence of banking sector liberalization in the emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the 'Corpus of American Danish' (CoAmDa), a newly established corpus of spoken immigrant Danish in North and South America. The CoAmDa amounts to approx. 1.7 million tokens, making it one of the largest corpora of heritage language at present. With regard to text type, the CoAmDa is a non-standard multilingual spoken language resource as Danish is mixed with American English, Canadian English or Argentine Spanish, respectively, in every recording. The aim of this note is to document relevant aspects and specifications of the CoAmDA, viz. the audio data, the sociodemographic metadata of the speakers, the digitization process of analog data, the transcription procedures, the format and tagging of the speech files and the internal validation procedures. In so doing, we wish to share our experience and best practices with regard to achieving a spoken language resource of high quality with the interested public, in particular other researchers working on and with multilingual speech corpora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes changes of near-surface air temperature in southern South America from the Last Glacial Maximum (~ 21,000 years before present) to the end of the twenty-first century based on PMIP3-CMIP5 model simulations. The study shows modeled time evolution of temperature highlighting how different the projected future warming will be with respect to paleoclimatic changes documented in the region. In this context, model simulations suggest that the projected twenty-first century warming will be markedly higher than the change of temperature registered between the mid-Holocene (~ 6000 years before present) and the present. Even more, the regional warming projected by the following 60–80 years might be almost similar to or even higher than the pronounced increment of temperature developed between the Last Glacial Maximum and the present. This past/future comparison provides a new picture of the unusual warming expected for the following decades in southern South America in the context of climate changes developed through the last ca. 21,000 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory approaches to fisheries management are gaining increasing support from researchers, non-governmental organizations, and governments in Latin America, and different forms of participatory monitoring have been implemented over the last few decades. Among several advantages, these initiatives allow incorporation of fishers' knowledge on ecology, fishing practices, social aspects, markets, regulations, into different stages of management. In this paper, we analyze key features of participatory monitoring programs in small-scale coastal fisheries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay) through a literature review complemented by expert opinion. Our review considered the fisheries and variables monitored; objectives, duration, institutional context of the monitoring programs; and factors that affect the extent of fishers' participation and the incorporation of fishers' knowledge. We found 14 case studies described in the literature, most of which correspond to benthic fisheries. Most cases focused on ecological and/or catch and effort variables; few initiatives included social variables. Initiatives were mainly driven by researchers in partnership with fishers and other stakeholders under formal or informal institutional arrangements. Institutional arrangements were largely responsible for the effectiveness of participation. In most cases, fishers' participation in monitoring was fostered as a component of a broader participatory co-management approach. Despite the challenges, participatory monitoring approaches are gaining traction in South America, receiving significant support from researchers in most cases, and from nongovernmental organizations in some cases. Increased governmental support for implementing and sustaining long-lasting participatory monitoring programs would strengthen monitoring initiatives that emerge locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many ports and navigation channels around the world suffer from silting and the presence of fluid mud layers, which can cause reductions in nautical depth. In this context, the existence of fluid mud layers makes the definition of the bottom ambiguous because the location of interfaces between water, fluid mud, and consolidated mud is dynamic. The present paper presents an integrated approach to analyzing the fluid mud layers in different port regions of South America and under controlled conditions in a laboratory column. In situ measurements were obtained with acoustic equipment, a chirp sub-bottom profiler and density profiles. The laboratory experiment was operated in a sedimentation column 4.3 m high, and dual-frequency echo sounder and density measurements were used to monitor sedimentation and resuspension events. Concerning the detection of the mud layers through dual-frequency echo sounder measurements, the high frequency return (HF) is associated with the water mud interface (lutocline), and the low frequency return (LF1) is more difficult to interpret. The high frequency recorded the position of the upper layers formed, either by resuspension or by the presence of diluted suspension. The depth measured by the low frequency can be either related to higher densities or associated with a second density gradient observed in the profiles. It is recommended to interpret and visualize the echograms when there is interference in the signal due to suspensions. The combination of techniques to detect and measure the fluid mud layers is a promising approach to empower and develop tools using fluid mud for navigation, with a potential increase in draft, as well as to define critical densities for port and channel areas, for safe navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falls are the fifth leading cause of death and are one of the main causes of hospitalization. The literature about falls prevalence among older adults living in rural/remote communities in South America is scarce. To compare falls prevalence among the elderly in the Andes, Peru, and in the rural area of the municipality of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Two separate cross-sectional studies were conducted in Peru, Andes (N = 413), and Brazil, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul state (N = 1029). We stratified all data analysis according to location (Andes/Rio Grande). Characteristics of the samples were compared and the chi square test for proportions was used. Falls prevalence was then calculated for each independent variable and crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using Poisson Regression with robust variance. Falls prevalence in the last year was much higher in the Andes (64.1%) than in Rio Grande (25.3%). For most characteristics assessed, falls prevalence in Peru was at least double that found in Rio Grande. According to the adjusted analysis for the Andes, age (80 or more), being married, divorced and alcohol intake were significantly associated with falls. In Rio Grande, female gender and being in the 70–79 and 80 or more age ranges were associated with falls as well as those who self-rated their health as poor. This paper contributes to knowledge about falls prevalence among the elderly from rural and remote communities in two South American countries. Longitudinal multicentre studies with standardized methodologies are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify those regions within the South American continent where the Regional Climate Models (RCMs) have the potential to add value (PAV) compared to their coarser-resolution global forcing. For this, we used a spatial-scale filtering method based on the wavelet theory to distinguish the regional climatic signal present in atmospheric surface fields from observed data (CPC and TRMM) and 6 RCM simulations belonging to the CORDEX Project. The wavelet used for filtering was Haar wavelet, but a comparative analysis with Daubechies 4 wavelet indicated that meteorological fields or regional indices were not very sensitive to the wavelet selected. Once the longer wavelengths were filtered, we focused on analyzing the spatial variability of extreme rainfall and the spatiotemporal variability of maximum and minimum surface air temperature on a daily basis. The results obtained suggest essential differences in the spatial distribution of the small-scale signal of extreme precipitation between TRMM and regional models, together with a large dispersion between models. While TRMM and CPC register a large signal throughout the continent, the RCMs place it over the Andes Cordillera and some over tropical South America. PAV signal for surface air temperature was found over the Andes Cordillera and the Brazilian Highlands, which are regions characterized by complex topography, and also on the coasts of the continent. The signal came specially from the small-scale stationary component. The transient part is much smaller than the stationary one, except over la Plata Basin where they are of the same order of magnitude. Also, the RCMs and CPC showed a large spread between them in representing this transient variability. The results confirm that RCMs have the potential to add value in the representation of extreme precipitation and the mean surface temperature in South America. However, this condition is not applicable throughout the whole continent but is particularly relevant in those terrestrial regions where the surface forcing is strong, such as the Andes Cordillera or the coasts of the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the existence of convergence in residential water consumption across geographical regions using econometric methods taken from the economic growth literature and a panel of water consumption of 348 Chilean localities from 2010 to 2015. Convergence was found, and the main causes were factors related to economic and climate variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized by scholars that amenities affect the individual well-being. Ample empirical evidence has been provided for developed countries, although this analysis for developing economies is scant. The aim of this paper is to study the association between locational specific characteristics and self-reported measures of subjective well-being. We focus our analysis in Chile, a developing country located in South America endowed with a rather heterogeneous set of amenities across cities. Using data from several sources to account for both natural and urban city amenities along with individual traits, our first results suggest that natural and urban amenities do affect the level of subjective well-being across Chilean cities. Afterwards, we allow for the estimated parameters associated to amenities vary to characterize the whole distribution rather than a single average parameter. This analysis uncovers the existence of unobserved individual heterogeneity, that is, individuals display different tastes for amenities not captured by observed traits, and consequently compensating variations associated to amenities differ across the sample. These results provide valuable elements to policy makers and city planners to the design of policies that enhance the population well-being and to the understanding of the development of cities in developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to focus on the way in which land transformation related to the grabbing process are directly involved in people's livelihoods and life projects. We use the term territorial grabbing instead of green grabbing (or just land grabbing), because even though the case that we illustrate in our work can be describe as a green grab, we make a call for the necessity of a comprehensive analysis of the socio-spatial implications that polices such as the governmental environmental conservation agenda can implicate for individuals and communities in terms of impacts, influences, and [re]significations of their territories and territorialities. Therefore, our objective is to go beyond the discussion on the appropriation of land and resources for environmental purposes (and therefore the discussion of land dynamics in relation to globalization, foreign investment, markets liberalization, violence, and control) to bring also into the debate the diverse socio-spatial implications and meanings that create a geographical imagination capable of having profound influences on the way in which people and groups understand their place in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies recent inequality patterns and the distributional effects of schooling and job informality on wage inequality in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico during the 2002–2014 period. By means of a quantile regression framework, we decompose changes in the wage gap using several techniques including the Machado and Mata algorithm, the RIF regression unconditional quantile regression method and the random-coefficients quantile regression representation. Results show that the reduction in wage inequality is explained by the improvements in the lower part of the wage distribution in which the pricing rather than the composition effect explains most of the changes. We found that the composition effect of education was unequalizing, while their pricing effect was inequality reducing. Job formality favored relatively more workers in the lower part of the distribution and had an important pricing effect below the median for all countries, but only in the 2002–2008 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines in a nonparametric frontier framework the effect of exports on Latin American countries' technological change and technological catch-up levels over the period 1950–2014. Based on the probabilistic approach of nonparametric production efficiency measurement, we apply time-dependent conditional full and partial efficiency estimators to evaluate countries' export orientation policies over the examined period. The results reveal that the effect of countries' export activity on their technological change and technological catch-up levels is nonlinear. Overall our findings suggest that up to a certain point, lower export shares enhance countries' technological catch-up levels. The results also reveal that higher export shares affect positively their technological change levels. Finally, in a second stage analysis we apply a location-scale regression model in order to estimate the idiosyncratic part of the estimated production efficiencies. This measure is a proxy of Solow's residual accounting for aggregate effects of other factors not included in our estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new modeling evidence showing the added value of high-resolution information from South America (SA) in the simulation of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) extratropical circulation. LMDZ, a coarse-resolution atmospheric global general circulation model constitutes the main tool for this investigation. Parallel to the control simulation, a two-way nesting (TWN) simulation of LMDZ is performed with an interactive coupling to the same model, but with a higher-resolution zoom over SA. The third simulation is a perfect boundary simulation for which re-analysis information from ERA-Interim is used to nudge LMDZ, but only over SA. Results indicate that enhanced resolution over SA improves the representation of the most important processes that influence extratropical eddy activity. The local improvement is followed by a better representation of the global extratropical circulation, especially in austral summer. The regional climate enhancement over SA has positive effects on simulation of the midlatitude jet position during the austral summer by significantly reducing the bias of the mean zonal kinetic energy outside the nudged zone. On the other hand, the wintertime general circulation outside the nudged-zone shows a limited bias-reduction for the regional-driven simulations, especially in the case of the TWN system. However, improvements of the TWN system compared to the control experiment are noticed in early stages of cyclone lifecycle, as it is identified in a better simulation of transient meridional heat transport and transient kinetic energy intensity. The findings of the present study suggest, thus, that improvements in resolution over SA effectively excite the simulation of the mean atmospheric circulation in the SH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]