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Understanding how animals respond to large-scale environmental changes is difficult to achieve because monitoring data are rarely available for more than the past few decades, if at all. Here, we demonstrate how a variety of palaeoecological proxies (e.g. isotopes, geochemistry and DNA) from an Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) guano deposit from Argentina can be used to explore breeding site fidelity and the impacts of environmental changes on avian behaviour. We found that condors used the nesting site since at least approximately 2200 years ago, with an approximately 1000-year nesting frequency slowdown from ca 1650 to 650 years before the present (yr BP). We provide evidence that the nesting slowdown coincided with a period of increased volcanic activity in the nearby Southern Volcanic Zone, which resulted in decreased availability of carrion and deterred scavenging birds. After returning to the nest site ca 650 yr BP, condor diet shifted from the carrion of native species and beached marine animals to the carrion of livestock (e.g. sheep and cattle) and exotic herbivores (e.g. red deer and European hare) introduced by European settlers. Currently, Andean Condors have elevated lead concentrations in their guano compared to the past, which is associated with human persecution linked to the shift in diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to determine the impacts of the delegation of authority and training on psychological empowerment of the employees. The study was conducted on ninety-eight persons. A questionnaire was used to collect data which were subsequently analyzed statistically by SPSS. The results show that delegation of authority and training both affect the autonomy of the employees. Nevertheless, training affects more than delegation of authority. Besides, the results indicate the need to grant more empowerment to employees regarding their work and show the necessity of diversifying training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite efforts to recover the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) in the past 30 yr, the species is still Critically Endangered due in part to dependence on field management and captive breeding. Captive breeding focuses not only on the quantity of young produced every year, but also on the quality of these birds, to ensure their future success in the wild. In this study, The Peregrine Fund pioneered the use of unpaired adult condors as foster parents to increase the number of young being raised by conspecifics, and therefore likely increase their chances of success in the wild. A total of 17 young have been raised to fledging by unpaired adults with previous rearing experience at The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey from 2012 to 2019. Three unpaired males successfully raised eight young. An unpaired female raised young in 2018 and 2019 after her infertile eggs were switched with hatching eggs. We also separated a pair of condors and had each attempt to raise young on their own, for a total of seven young raised. The adult that remained in the original chamber always raised young successfully. The adult that was separated, however, often rejected the dummy egg that was offered in the new chamber. The use of unpaired adults as foster parents provides the recovery effort with additional benefits, such as having experienced breeders raising young, having "backup" parents, keeping unpaired adults occupied with breeding tasks, and preventing them from being housed as surplus animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Managerial Researshes is the property of Faculty of Economic Sciences, Commercial & Managerial Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Economics & Finance (2437-0630) is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Geothermal activities (e.g., volcanic eruptions) represent one of the most important natural sources of metal emissions (heavy metals and metalloids). They can be one of the main risks for the ecosystems in regions like North of Argentiniean Patagonia, a sparsely populated area, close to an extensive network of active volcanoes on the Andes Range. The 2011 eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) has been the largest volcanic event of the last decades. The effects of exposure to ashes on wildlife and humans have been sparsely studied, and only one biomonitoring study has used higher trophic species. The exposure to metals of the species in Patagonia has been poorly studied. The main objectives of our study were to assess metal screening and to evaluate a possible relation between the levels of metals in the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) population and the volcanic activity of the area. We investigated the effects of the eruption of the PCCVC in 2011, using samples of molt primary feathers of the Andean condor, collected in nine roosts around Bariloche, Argentina (maximum distance 85 km). Data available suggest the molt of the primary feathers of the Andean condor has a duration of 6 years. We carried out sampling before (2007, 2009) and after (2017) the volcanic eruption (2011). The feathers sampled in 2017 should have been developed in 2011–2012, reflecting the environmental situation of the period immediately following the eruption of the PCCVC. For the first time, we have screened metals in 48 molted primary feathers of Andean condor, showing the levels of 9 metals and metalloids (Si, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Pb, Hg). Si, Zn, As, and Cd showed higher levels in the feathers sampled after the eruption. The levels of Cr and Pb (although apparently not related to the volcanic eruption) in some samples are compatible with potential adverse effects in living organisms. The screening results represent an important database (the first for this species) that can be used in in future studies for comparative purposes. Highlights: •We present the first database of metals in condor feathers, which may be useful for future studies. •Volcanic eruptions might represent an important source of metal and metalloid emissions in this area. •The Andean condor from Argentine Patagonia could be affected by volcanic activity in the area. •Andean condor feathers may be good biomonitoring units of this contamination. •Pb pollution does not seem to be related to the volcano's eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this study is that a well-attested mythological trope concerning the Fox and the Condor is apparent in archaeological features at Buena Vista in Chillón Valley, a site in Peru dating to 2200 BC. The myth identifies the Fox as an observer of human ritual activities who reports them to the Condor, who in turn flies up to the animate mountain peaks (apus) to inform them of these activities. With that information, the apus mete out punishments or rewards based on whether the rituals were adequate. At Buena Vista, this is expressed by an equinoctial alignment between a temple with an incised fox and a stone pillar carved into the shape of a condor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Al-Quds Open University for Administrative & Economic Research is the property of Al-Quds Open University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios Atacameños is the property of Estudios Atacamenos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Qadisiyah Computer Science & Mathematics is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Over the last century, marine mammals have been dramatically reduced in the world's oceans. We examined evidence that this change caused dietary and foraging pattern shifts of the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) in Patagonia. We hypothesized that, after the decrease in marine mammals and the increase in human use of coastlines, condor diet changed to a more terrestrial diet, which in turn influenced their foraging patterns. We evaluated the diet by means of stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S) of current (last decade) and historical (1841-1933) feathers. We further evaluated the movement patterns of 23 condors using satellite tracking of individuals. Condors reduced their use of marine-derived prey in recent compared with historical times from 33±13% to less than 8±3% respectively; however, they still breed close to the coast. The average distance between the coast and nests was 62.5 km, but some nests were located close to the sea (less than 5 km). Therefore, some birds must travel up to 86 km from nesting sites, crossing over the mountain range to find food. The worldwide reduction in marine mammal carcasses, especially whales, may have major consequences on the foraging ecology of scavengers, as well as on the flux of marine inputs within terrestrial ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether superior nominal and risk-adjusted returns can be generated using condor option spread strategies on a large capitalized Australian stock. Monthly Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (CBA) condor option spreads are constructed from 2012 to 2015 and their returns established. Standard and alternative measures are used to determine the nominal and risk-adjusted performance of the spreads. The results show that the short put condor spread produces superior nominal and risk-adjusted returns, but seemingly underperformed when the upside potential ratio was taken into consideration. The long iron condor spread also offers reasonable returns across both performance metrics. On the other hand, the short call condor, long call condor, short iron condor and long put condor spreads did not perform as well on a nominal and risk-adjusted return basis. The results suggest that constructing spreads on the foundation of volatility preferences could be a driver of performance for condor option spreads strategies. For instance, short volatility condor spreads with negatively skewed return distribution shapes appear to add value, while long volatility condor spreads with positively skewed return distribution shapes seem to be less attractive over the sample period. Overall, condor option spreads demonstrate high risk-return profiles, offer versatility in their construction and intended pay-off outcomes, create value in some instances and can be executed across varying market conditions. It is suggested that risk averse investors best avoid condor option spreads, while those with above average risk tolerances may be well suited to the strategies, particularly short volatility-driven condor spreads.

Copyright of Al Bashaer Economic Journal is the property of Al Bashaer Economic Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The ungulate-carnivore-vulture complex is a key trophic module of many terrestrial ecosystems, but one that is globally under threat. Few have explored cross-species dependencies in this module, and the degree to which vultures rely on trophic facilitation by apex carnivores is rarely known and almost never quantified., We investigated the importance of puma Puma concolor predation on its native camelid prey, vicuñas Vicugna vicugna and guanacos Lama guanicoe, in food provisioning for Andean condors Vultur gryphus in the high Andes of north-western Argentina. We evaluated the origin of wild food sources through carcass surveys. We quantified condor feeding habits via foraging observations and through the analysis of pellet contents and stable isotopes from moulted feathers., Of the 102 fresh camelid carcasses we monitored, nearly all (94%) resulted from puma predation, and the majority (85%) of camelid carcasses used by condors were killed by pumas. Camelids represented 88% of the prey items identified from 183 condor pellets, and isotopic analyses of moulted feathers from 86 individuals identified via multilocus genotyping revealed that camelids and Small livestock were the most important prey items, representing 45-58% and 28-38% of condor assimilated biomass, respectively., Synthesis and applications. Our results show that puma predation plays a key role in the foraging ecology of Andean condors, and highlight the importance of predatory processes that make carrion available to scavengers. We contend that targeting the conservation of ungulate-carnivore-vulture modules, rather than a species-specific approach, will be a more effective strategy to ensure the long-term persistence of Andean condors and other obligate scavengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife lead exposure is an increasing conservation threat that is being widely investigated. However, for some areas of the world (e.g., South America) and certain species, research on this subject is still scarce or only local information is available. We analyzed the extent and intensity of lead exposure for a widely distributed threatened species, the Andean Condor ( Vultur gryphus ). We conducted the study at two different scales: 1) sampling of birds received for rehabilitation or necropsy in Argentina, and 2) bibliographic review and extensive survey considering exposure event for the species' distribution in South America. Wild condors from Argentina ( n = 76) presented high lead levels consistent with both recent and previous exposure (up to 104 μg/dL blood level, mean 15.47 ± 21.21 μg/dL and up to 148.20 ppm bone level, mean 23.08 ± 31.39 ppm). In contrast, captive bred individuals -not exposed to lead contamination- had much lower lead levels (mean blood level 5.63 ± 3.08 μg/dL, and mean bone level 2.76 ± 3.06 ppm). Condors were exposed to lead throughout their entire range in continental Argentina, which represents almost sixty percent (>4000 km) of their geographical distribution. We also present evidence of lead exposure events in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Lead poisoning is a widespread major conservation threat for the Andean Condor, and probably other sympatric carnivores from South America. The high number and wide range of Andean Condors with lead values complement the results for the California Condor and other scavengers in North America suggesting lead poisoning is a continental threat. Urgent actions are needed to reduce this poison in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Análise e avaliação da política dos Estados Unidos de extinção das atividades da empresa de transporte aéreo Condor, por meio de sua inclusão na Lista Negra, do corte no fornecimento de combustível, da pressão pela exclusão de trabalhadores e acionistas alemães ou simpatizantes do Eixo. Consideraram-se outros meios, como a oferta de crédito para aquisição de equipamentos de aviação estadunidenses e de ações da Condor, e treinamento de brasileiros, assim como infiltração de técnicos e consultores na empresa.Analysis and evaluation of U.S.A. policy to extinguish activities of Condor's air transportation, by placing it on the Proclaimed List, cutting the supply of aviation fuel, exerting pressure for the displacement of German workers and shareholders or sympathizers of Axis countries. Other means such as the offer of credits for the acquisition of aviation equipments and Condor shares, the training of Brazilian substitutes, as well as the infiltration of technicians and consultants inside the company are also considered.

New World Vultures are large-bodied carrion feeding birds in the family Cathartidae, currently consisting of seven species from five genera with geographic distributions in North and South America. No study to date has included all cathartid species in a single phylogenetic analysis. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships among all cathartid species using five nuclear (nuc; 4060 bp) and two mitochondrial (mt; 2165 bp) DNA loci with fossil calibrated gene tree (27 outgroup taxa) and coalescent-based species tree (2 outgroup taxa) analyses. We also included an additional four nuclear loci (2578 bp) for the species tree analysis to explore changes in nodal support values. Although the stem lineage is inferred to have originated ∼69 million years ago (Ma; 74.5–64.9 credible interval), a more recent basal split within Cathartidae was recovered at ∼14 Ma (17.1–11.1 credible interval). Two primary clades were identified: (1) Black Vulture ( Coragyps atratus ) together with the three Cathartes species (Lesser C. burrovianus and Greater C. melambrotus Yellow-headed Vultures, and Turkey Vulture C. aura ), and (2) King Vulture ( Sarcoramphus papa ), California ( Gymnogyps californianus ) and Andean ( Vultur gryphus ) Condors. Support for taxon relationships within the two basal clades were inconsistent between analyses with the exception of Black Vulture sister to a monophyletic Cathartes clade. Increased support for a yellow-headed vulture clade was recovered in the species tree analysis using the four additional nuclear loci. Overall, these results are in agreement with cathartid life history (e.g. olfaction ability and behavior) and contrasting habitat affinities among sister taxa with overlapping geographic distributions. More research is needed using additional molecular loci to further resolve the phylogenetic relationships within the two basal cathartid clades, as speciation appeared to have occurred in a relatively short period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point-based crop models are frequently used to investigate the interaction of genotype, environment and management (G × E × M) for breeding programs and adaptation research. These studies require the processing of millions of simulations to make assessments in national scales. Here we demonstrate a platform to run crop simulations with HTCondor as implemented across more than 120 000 cores on CSIRO network. The workflow of HTCondor usages was built through a server-client structure with standardized messages (simulations), which were queued by message queue sever. The new workflow maximized the performance of the CSIRO HTCondor service and could simultaneously utilize more than 8000 cores. A case study of 4.8 million APSIM simulations (ca. 2 mins each on model desktop), was completed in 32.5 h. This platform makes it is possible to assess all combinations of G × E × M in a short period. The generic platform has since been used to run other massive serial processing tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron emission tomography (PET) is rapidly becoming widely accepted as the standard-of-care for imaging of men with prostate cancer. Labeled indications for regulatoryapproved agents include primary staging and recurrent disease in men at risk of metastases. The first commercial PSMA PET agent to become available was 18F-DCFPyL (piflufolastat F 18), a radiofluorinated small molecule with high-affinity for PSMA. The regulatory approval of 18F-DCFPyL hinged upon two key, multi-center, registration trials, OSPREY (patient population: highrisk primary staging) and CONDOR (patient population: biochemical recurrence). In this manuscript, we will (1) review key findings from the OSPREY and CONDOR trials, (2) discuss the clinical acquisition protocol we use for 18F-DCFPyL PET scanning, (3) present information on important pearls and pitfalls, (4) provide an overview of the PSMA reporting and data system (PSMA-RADS) interpretive framework, and (5) posit important future directions for research in PSMA PET. Our overall goal is to provide a brief introduction for practices and academic groups that are adopting 18F-DCFPyL PET scans for use in their patients with prostate cancer.

Tear gas, first used in World War One, is increasingly becoming the weapon of choice for security forces across the globe. Anna Feigenbaum offers a bleak picture of how companies - with a particular focus on Condor in Brazil - are capitalising on this trend and reaping financial benefits by marketing it as a "non-lethal" weapon. She demonstrates how in reality categorising tear gas as "non-lethal" is at best misguided and at worst disingenuous. Feigenbaum sets out the historical reasons for this "non-lethal" categorisation of tear gas - ones which governments and big business are happy to rely on today despite the ever increasing body of evidence that shows the extreme human rights abuses that its use inflicts on civilian populations worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systems biology is a scientific field that uses computational modelling to study biological and biochemical systems. The simulation and analysis of models of these systems typically explore behaviour over a wide range of parameter values; as such, they are usually characterised by the need for nontrivial amounts of computing power. Grid computing provides access to such computational resources. In previous research, we created the grid-enabled biochemical networks simulation environment to attempt to speed up system biology simulations over a grid (the UK National Grid Service and ScotGrid). Following on from this work, we have created the simulation modelling of the epidermal growth factor receptor microtubule-associated protein kinase pathway utility, a standalone simulation tool dedicated to the modelling and analysis of the epidermal growth factor receptor microtubule-associated protein kinase pathway. This builds on experiences from biochemical networks simulation environment by decoupling the simulation modelling elements from the Grid middleware. This new utility enables us to interface with different grid technologies. This paper therefore describes the new SIMAP utility and an empirical investigation of its performance when deployed over a desktop grid based on the high throughput computing middleware Condor. We present our results based on a case study with a model of the mammalian ErbB signalling pathway, a pathway strongly linked to cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Fine-Grained Cycle Sharing (FGCS) systems, machine owners voluntarily share their unused CPU cycles with guest jobs, as long as their performance degradation is tolerable. However, unpredictable evictions of guest jobs lead to fluctuating completion times. Checkpoint-recovery is an attractive mechanism for recovering from such 'failures'. Today's FGCS systems often use expensive, high-performance dedicated checkpoint servers. However, in geographically distributed clusters, this may incur high checkpoint transfer latencies. In this paper we present a distributed checkpointing system called Falcon that uses available disk resources of the FGCS machines as shared checkpoint repositories. However, an unavailable storage host may lead to loss of checkpoint data. Therefore, we model the failures of a storage host and develop a prediction algorithm for choosing reliable checkpoint repositories. We experiment with Falcon in the university-wide Condor testbed at Purdue and show improved and consistent performance for guest jobs in the presence of irregular resource availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of Service (QoS) support in private clouds is a challenging process because of the limitations of available resources and the high rate of received jobs, which leads to an NP hard scheduling problem. In private clouds, resource owners are usually interested in maximizing their resource utilization and completion rates while minimizing the turnaround time of their jobs, which complicates the scheduling problem even more. Haizea is an eminent cloud scheduler that offers high performance in terms of job turnaround time and completion rate. However, Haizea, and cloud schedulers in general, suffer from low resource utlization. Additionally, cloud schedulers usually consider only end users' demands, while providers' demands are entirely neglected. This is because an infinite pool of resources is assumed, which is difficult to achieve and simply not true in private clouds. Conversely, Condor, the eminent High Throughput Computing (HTP) scheuler, is known for addressing these shortcomings by formulating owner's and user's requirements as a logical expression evaluated based on the context which result is high resource utilization. Unfortunatly, this comes with the price of long execution time. As each of Haizea and Condor has its own advantages and limitations, in this paper, we propose a hybrid Haizea and Condor approach (HHCS) which utilizes techniques from both schedulers in a way that maximizes their advantages and overcomes their limitations. The proposed approach has been tested thoroughly in a simulated private cloud environment under various numbers of nodes and jobs. Experimental results illustrated an enhanced performance in terms of resources utilization without compromising the job turnaround time or the job completion rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La historieta Condorito tiene una larga historia de producción y recepción, inusitada en América Latina. Este artículo busca responder la pregunta: por qué se sigue publicando y leyendo a Condorito. Para ello, se concentra en interpretar a su personaje principal (Condorito), así como la relación de este con el mundo y la cultura occidental. En ese sentido, se examina al personaje como mito y como trickster, y como una narrativa que contemporiza de manera eficaz, con formas eruditas de pensamiento americano. Así mismo, se examina la relevancia emblemática y totémica del cóndor en la cosmología andina, indígena y mestiza, particularmente en la Yawar Fiesta, o Toropukllay.

Many scavenging bird populations have experienced abrupt declines across the globe, and intensive recovery activities have been necessary to sustain several species, including the critically endangered California condor ( Gymnogyps californianus). Exposure to lead from lead-based ammunition is widespread in condors and lead toxicosis presents an immediate threat to condor recovery, accounting for the highest proportion of adult mortality. Lead contamination of carcasses across the landscape remains a serious threat to the health and sustainability of scavenging birds, and here we summarize recent evidence for exposure to lead-based ammunition and health implications across many species. California condors and other scavenging species are sensitive indicators of the occurrence of lead contaminated carcasses in the environment. Transdisciplinary science-based approaches have been critical to managing lead exposure in California condors and paving the way for use of non-lead ammunition in California. Similar transdisciplinary approaches are now needed to translate the science informing on this issue and establish education and outreach efforts that focus on concerns brought forth by key stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Light detection and ranging (lidar) technologies have proven to be the most powerful tools to collect, within a short time, three-dimensional (3-D) point clouds with high-density, high-accuracy and significantly detailed surface information pertaining to terrain and objects. However, in terms of feature extraction and 3-D reconstruction in a computer-aided drawing (CAD) format, most of the existing stand-alone lidar data processing software packages are unable to process a large volume of lidar data in an effective and efficient fashion. To break this technical bottleneck, through the design of a Condor-based process virtualization platform, we presented in this paper a novel strategy that uses network-related computational resources to process, manage, and distribute vast quantities of lidar data in a cloud computing environment. Three extensive experiments with and without a cloud computing environment were compared. The experiment results demonstrated that the proposed process virtualization approach is promisingly applicable and effective in the management of large-scale lidar point clouds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Electrocardiography is a useful tool when included in healthcare protocols and is increasingly utilized for monitoring wild birds. However, the lack of reference data for many species is limiting the clinical value of this technique. In this study 26 Andean condors ( Vultur gryphus) coming from rehabilitation and captive breeding programs were examined to determine electrocardiographic references prior to being released. Standard bipolar (I, II, and III) and augmented unipolar limb (aVR, aVL, and aVF) leads were recorded with birds under physical restraint. Five beats were analyzed on Lead II at 50 mm/sec and 1 cm = 1 mV to determine QRS complex morphology, cardiac rhythm, heart rate, P, PR, R, S, QRS, T, QT, and ST amplitude and/or duration. P and T wave configuration was determined for all leads, and Mean Electrical Axis (MEA) in the frontal plane was determined using leads I and III. Cardiac rhythm corresponded to regular sinus rhythm in 42% of the birds, with a relevant rate of sinus arrhythmia in 58%, and rS as the most common pattern (42%) for QRS complex in lead II. We found an influence of age and heart rate but not of sex on several ECG waves and intervals. Relevant ECG findings for studied Andean condors include a high rate of Ta, R′, and U wave detection. Waves Ta and R′ were considered non-pathological, while the significance of U waves remains unclear. Our results provide a useful reference to improve clinical interpretation of full electrocardiographic examination in Andean condors. Zoo Biol. 32:381-386, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Educación en Ingeniería is the property of Asociacion Colombiana de Facultades de Ingenieria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

SUMMARY Many research institutions and Universities own computational capacity that is not effectively utilized, thereby providing an opportunity for such institutions to use such capacity to offer Cloud services (to both internal and external users). However, the unreliability and unpredictability of these resources mean that their use in the context of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is high risk, leading to a reduction in reputation as well as economic penalties in case of SLA violation. We propose a methodology that addresses the issues of unreliability and unpredictability such that Cloud software services could be hosted upon volunteered resources. To enable the harnessing of these resources we rely on autonomic fault management techniques that allow such systems to independently adapt the resources they use based upon their perception of individual resource reliability. Using our approach we were able to scale out the backend infrastructure of the Cloud service elastically (min 30thinspaces per worker), opportunistically and autonomically. We address two key questions in this article: can a campus volunteer infrastructure be used in Cloud provisioning? What measures are necessary in order to ensure reliability at the resource level? Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models are increasingly being used to quantify the effects of best management practices (BMPs) on water quality. While these models offer the ability to study multiple BMP scenarios, and to analyze impacts of various management decisions on watershed response, associated analyses can be very computationally intensive due to a large number of runs needed to fully capture the various uncertainties in the model outputs. There is, thus, the need to develop suitable and efficient techniques to handle such comprehensive model evaluations. We demonstrate a novel approach to accomplish a large number of model runs with Condor, a distributed high-throughput computing framework for model runs with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. This application required more than 43,000 runs of the SWAT model to evaluate the impacts of 172 different watershed management decisions combined with weather uncertainty on water quality. The SWAT model was run in the Condor environment implemented on the TeraGrid. This framework significantly reduced the model run time from 2.5 years to 18 days and enabled us to perform comprehensive BMP analyses that may not have been possible with traditional model runs on a few desktop computers. The Condor system can be used effectively to make Monte Carlo analyses of complex watershed models requiring a large number of computational cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Vultures are nature's most successful scavengers, and they provide an array of ecological, economic, and cultural services. As the only known obligate scavengers, vultures are uniquely adapted to a scavenging lifestyle. Vultures' unique adaptations include soaring flight, keen eyesight, and extremely low pH levels in their stomachs. Presently, 14 of 23 (61%) vulture species worldwide are threatened with extinction, and the most rapid declines have occurred in the vulture-rich regions of Asia and Africa. The reasons for the population declines are varied, but poisoning or human persecution, or both, feature in the list of nearly every declining species. Deliberate poisoning of carnivores is likely the most widespread cause of vulture poisoning. In Asia, Gyps vultures have declined by >95% due to poisoning by the veterinary drug diclofenac, which was banned by regional governments in 2006. Human persecution of vultures has occurred for centuries, and shooting and deliberate poisoning are the most widely practiced activities. Ecological consequences of vulture declines include changes in community composition of scavengers at carcasses and an increased potential for disease transmission between mammalian scavengers at carcasses. There have been cultural and economic costs of vulture declines as well, particularly in Asia. In the wake of catastrophic vulture declines in Asia, regional governments, the international scientific and donor communities, and the media have given the crisis substantial attention. Even though the Asian vulture crisis focused attention on the plight of vultures worldwide, the situation for African vultures has received relatively little attention especially given the similar levels of population decline. While the Asian crisis has been largely linked to poisoning by diclofenac, vulture population declines in Africa have numerous causes, which have made conserving existing populations more difficult. And in Africa there has been little government support to conserve vultures despite mounting evidence of the major threats. In other regions with successful vulture conservation programs, a common theme is a huge investment of financial resources and highly skilled personnel, as well as political will and community support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pleistocene fossils related to the living California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) have been found in several locations in western North America. Different authors have either assigned these to the species G. amplus or considered them a chronological subspecies of G. californianus. We examined the morphology of the genus Gymnogyps from the late Pleistocene to the present, using hundreds of specimens from the asphalt deposits of Rancho La Brea (RLB) and 62 partial modern skeletons. The limb bones (using seven variables on each element) and skulls (using 13 variables) were quantitatively compared using bivariate and multivariate techniques. No significant size or shape change through time was apparent in RLB samples ranging from the late Pleistocene (35,000 radiocarbon years b.p.) to the early Holocene (9000 radiocarbon years b.p.), suggesting evolutionary stasis in the face of the climatic changes of the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Proximal limb elements and skulls showed patterns of variation consistent with a species distinction between the RLB specimens and modern G. californianus. This confirms Fisher's (1944) contention that the RLB species is referable to G. amplus Miller 1911, and not referable to the modern species. A set of specimens from a 9000-year-old Indian midden in Oregon as well as the presence of Gymnogyps in early Holocene Pit 10 at RLB suggest that the modern and ancient Gymnogyps may have coexisted with each other as well as with humans, and not died out or become dwarfed with the extinction of the rest of the Pleistocene megafauna, as suggested by some authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: When calculating correlation networks from multi-electrode array (MEA) data, one works with extensive computations. Unfortunately, as the MEAs grow bigger, the time needed for the computation grows even more: calculating pair-wise correlations for current 60 channel systems can take hours on normal commodity computers whereas for future 1000 channel systems it would take almost 280 times as long, given that the number of pairs increases with the square of the number of channels. Even taking into account the increase of speed in processors, soon it can be unfeasible to compute correlations in a single computer. Parallel computing is a way to sustain reasonable calculation times in the future. We provide a general tool for rapid computation of correlation networks which was tested for: (a) a single computer cluster with 16 cores, (b) the Newcastle Condor System utilizing idle processors of university computers and (c) the inter-cluster, with 192 cores. Our reusable tool provides a simple interface for neuroscientists, automating data partition and job submission, and also allowing coding in any programming language. It is also sufficiently flexible to be used in other high-performance computing environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]