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Book reviews / Crítica de libros / Crítica de livros: Rosa Congost and Pablo F. Luna (Eds.): Agrarian Change and Imperfect Property: Emphyteusis in Europe (16th to 19th Centuries) Rui Santos Herbert S. Klein and Francisco Vidal Luna: Feeding the World: Brazil’s Transformation into a Modern Agricultural Economy Andrea Montero Mora Joshua Specht: Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America Iker Saitua Eva Fraňková, Willi Haas, Simron J. Singh (Eds.): Socio-Metabolic Perspectives on the Sustainability of Local Food Systems. Insights for Science, Policy and Practice Elena Galán del Castillo Jane Whittle (Ed.): Servants in Rural Europe, 1400-1900 Gabriel Jover Fabien Conord: La terre des autres: Le métayage en France depuis 1889 Juan Carmona Jean-Marc Moriceau & Philippe Madeline (Eds.): Les petites gens de la terre. Paysans, ouvriers et domestiques (Moyen Âge-XXIe siècle) Niccolò Mignemi Daniel Lanero (Ed.): El disputado voto de los labriegos: Cambio, conflicto y continuidad política en la España rural (1968-1986) Antonio Herrera González de Molina David Soto Fernández y José Miguel Lana Berasáin (Eds.): Del pasado al futuro como problema: La historia agraria contemporánea española en el siglo XXI Salvador Calatayud Giner

Understanding the replacement of soil nutrients removed by harvests makes it possible to understand the influence of humans on long-term soil fertility. This article calculates nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium balances for cropland in 1920 for three agroecoregions distinguished by particular historical settlement patterns, land use, geography, and climatic characteristics in Catalonia, Spain. The analysis assesses and compares the regional potential for farmers to have returned the nutrients extracted from croplands at a time of transition, when only a few synthetic fertilizers were yet available. From sustainability science, the article borrows a methodology to reconstruct soil nutrient balances in historical agroecosystems from available regional historical sources. The soil balances indicate that nutrient extractions were balanced with the additions in Catalonia's wetter Pyrenees and eastern regions, but were in deficit in the arid western regions, where less livestock manure was available. In Barcelona province, farmers made considerable use of synthetic fertilizers already in 1920. Such fertilizers were mainly intended to supplement phosphorus in the eastern region, suggesting that they played an important role there too, where there was not enough manure. I am very grateful to Geoff Cunfer and Laura Larsen for the English language correction and final editing of the text. This research was supported by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Partnership Grant 895-2011-1020 and the Spanish MICINN JdCF2016 No. FJCI-2016-30263.

espanolEl cambio climatico afectara a los sistemas de rumiantes a traves de efectos directos sobre el rendimientode los animales y efectos indirectos sobre la disponibilidad de pastos y forrajes. Como los impactos se-ran muy desiguales entre las diferentes regiones y sistemas de produccion, el sector de rumiantes requeriraestrategias de adaptacion para cada contexto especifico. Este documento de revision examina los prin-cipales impactos del cambio climatico en la productividad animal y forrajera y las principales estrategiasde adaptacion al cambio climatico. Ademas, mostramos diferentes ejemplos de modelizacion a nivel deexplotacion de como el cambio climatico afectara diferentes sistemas de produccion y viendo en que me-dida algunas estrategias de adaptacion pueden mejorar estos impactos. El estres por calor es el factormas importante que afecta los sistemas de produccion de rumiantes en condiciones de cambio climatico,lo que resulta en perdidas de productividad y cambios en la calidad del producto. Para el forraje, se es-pera que la productividad y la calidad del alimento se alteren con los cambios en las concentraciones dedioxido de carbono, temperatura y los patrones de lluvia y factores estresantes (p. ej. ozono). La mag-nitud de los impactos en animales y forrajes dependeran de interacciones complejas entre condicionesambientales especificas, especies, razas, fase del animal o sistemas especificos de produccion. Ademas,los impactos y las adaptaciones al cambio climatico a nivel animal y de alimentacion se traduciran de di-ferentes maneras cuando se considere el nivel de explotacion y el sistema productivo EnglishClimate change will affect ruminant systems through direct effects on animal performance, and indi-rect effects on pasture and forage availability. As impacts will be very unequal amongst different re-gions and production systems, the ruminant sector will require adaptation strategies that are tailoredto each specific context. This review paper examines, first, the main impacts of climate change on ani-mal and forage productivity, followed by a description of the main adaptation strategies to climatechange and finished, by showing different modelling examples at the fam level of how climate changewill impact different production systems, and the extent some adaptation strategies can ameliorate theseimpacts. Heat stress is the most important factor affecting ruminant production systems under climatechange conditions, resulting in productivity losses and changes in product quality. For forage, productivity and quality of the feed is expected to alter with changes in concentrations of carbon dioxide, chan-ges in temperature and rainfall patterns and stressors such as ozone concentration. The extent heatstress and variables affecting feed production can affect ruminant production systems will depend oncomplex interactions between specific ambient conditions, species, breeds, animal stage or productionsystems. Moreover, impacts and adaptations to climate change at the animal and feed level will trans-late in different ways when the farm level and production system is considered

[EN] In the last decades, a global warming trend was observed. Along with the temperature increase, modifications in the humidity and wind regime amplify the regional and local impacts on livestock husbandry. Direct impacts include the occurrence of climatic stress conditions. In Europe, cows are economically highly relevant and are mainly kept in naturally ventilated buildings that are most susceptible to climate change. The high-yielding cows are particularly vulnerable to heat stress. Modifications in housing management are the main measures taken to improve the ability of livestock to cope with these conditions. Measures are typically taken in direct reaction to uncomfortable conditions instead of in anticipation of a long-term risk for climatic stress. Measures that balance welfare, environmental and economic issues are barely investigated in the context of climate change and are thus almost not available for commercial farms. Quantitative analysis of the climate change impacts on animal welfare and linked economic and environmental factors is rare. Therefore, we used a numerical modeling approach to estimate the future heat stress risk in such dairy cattle husbandry systems. The indoor climate was monitored inside three reference barns in central Europe and the Mediterranean regions. An artificial neuronal network (ANN) was trained to relate the outdoor weather conditions provided by official meteorological weather stations to the measured indoor microclimate. Subsequently, this ANN model was driven by an ensemble of regional climate model projections with three different greenhouse gas concentration scenarios. For the evaluation of the heat stress risk, we considered the number and duration of heat stress events. Based on the changes in the heat stress events, various economic and environmental impacts were estimated. The impacts of the projected increase in heat stress risk varied among the barns due to different locations and designs as well as the anticipated climate change (considering different climate models and future greenhouse gas concentrations). There was an overall increasing trend in number and duration of heat stress events. At the end of the century, the number of annual stress events can be expected to increase by up to 2000, while the average duration of the events increases by up to 22 h compared to the end of the last century. This implies strong impacts on economics, environment and animal welfare and an urgent need for mid-term adaptation strategies. We anticipated that up to one-tenth of all hours of a year, correspondingly one-third of all days, will be classified as critical heat stress conditions. Due to heat stress, milk yield may decrease by about 2.8 % relative to the present European milk yield, and farmers may expect financial losses in the summer season of about 5.4 % of their monthly income. In addition, an increasing demand for emission reduction measures must be expected, as an emission increase of about 16 Gg of ammonia and 0.1 Gg of methane per year can be expected under the anticipated heat stress conditions. The cattle respiration rate increases by up to 60 %, and the standing time may be prolonged by 1 h. This causes health issues and increases the probability of medical treatments. The various impacts imply feedback loops in the climate system which are presently underexplored. Hence, future in-depth studies on the different impacts and adaptation options at different stress levels are highly recommended., This research has been supported by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) through the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) (grant nos. 2814ERA02C and 2814ERA03C), the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) (grant no. 618105), the Basque Government (grant no. BERC 2018-2021), the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness MINECO (grant nos. MDM-2017-0714, FJCI-2016-30263, and RYC-2017-22143), and the Innovation Foundation Denmark (grant no. 4215-00004B).

Energy balances of farm systems have overlooked the role of energy flows that remain within agro-ecosystems. Yet, such internal flows fulfil important socio-ecological functions, including maintenance of farmers themselves and agro-ecosystem structures. Farming can either give rise to complex landscapes that favour associated biodiversity, or the opposite. This variability can be understood by assessing several types of Energy Returns on Investment (EROI). Applying these measures to a farm system in Catalonia, Spain in 1860 and in 1999, reveals the expected decrease in the ratio of final energy output to total and external inputs. The transition from solar-based to a fossil fuel based agro-ecosystem was further accompanied by an increase in the ratio of final energy output to biomass reused, as well as an absolute increase of Unharvested Phytomass grown in derelict forestland. The study reveals an apparent link between reuse of biomass and the decrease of landscape heterogeneity along with its associated biodiversity.

Introduction Projected temperature rise in the upcoming years due to climate change has increased interest in studying the effects of heat stress in dairy cows. Environmental indices are commonly used for detecting heat stress, but have been used mainly in studies focused on the productivity-related effects of heat stress. The welfare approach involves identifying physiological and behavioural measurements so as to start heat stress mitigation protocols before the appearance of impending severe health or production issues. Therefore, there is growing interest in studying the effects of heat stress on welfare. This systematic review seeks to summarise the animal-based responses to heat stress (physiological and behavioural, excluding productivity) that have been used in scientific literature. Methods Using systematic review guidelines set by PRISMA, research articles were identified, screened and summarised based on inclusion criteria for physiology and behaviour, excluding productivity, for animal-based resilience indicators. 129 published articles were reviewed to determine which animal-based indicators for heat stress were most frequently used in dairy cows. Results The articles considered report at least 212 different animal-based indicators that can be aggregated into body temperature, feeding, physiological response, resting, drinking, grazing and pasture-related behaviour, reactions to heat management and others. The most common physiological animal-based indicators are rectal temperature, respiration rate and dry matter intake, while the most common behavioural indicators are time spent lying, standing and feeding. Conclusion Although body temperature and respiration rate are the animal-based indicators most frequently used to assess heat stress in dairy cattle, when choosing an animal-based indicator for detecting heat stress using scientific literature to establish thresholds, characteristics that influence the scale of the response and the definition of heat stress must be taken into account, e.g. breed, lactation stage, milk yield, system type, climate region, bedding type, diet and cooling management strategies. © 2018 Galan*E.*Elena et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. E.G., H.L. and S.P. were funded by the OPTIBARN Project through the research grant 618105 FACCE Era Net Plus – Food Security, Agriculture, Climate Change ERA-NET plus –JPI). P.L. was funded by the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the Seventh Fram

We report on an experimental investigation of transport through single molecules, trapped between two gold nano-electrodes fabricated with the mechanically controlled break junction (MCBJ) technique. The four molecules studied share the same core structure, namely oligo(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE3), while having different aurophilic anchoring groups: thiol (SAc), methyl sulfide (SMe), pyridyl (Py) and amine (NH2). The focus of this paper is on the combined characterization of the electrical and mechanical properties determined by the anchoring groups. From conductance histograms we find that thiol anchored molecules provide the highest conductance; a single-level model fit to current–voltage characteristics suggests that SAc groups exhibit a higher electronic coupling to the electrodes, together with better level alignment than the other three groups. An analysis of the mechanical stability, recording the lifetime in a self-breaking method, shows that Py and SAc yield the most stable junctions while SMe form short-lived junctions. Density functional theory combined with non-equlibrium Green’s function calculations help in elucidating the experimental findings.

Rectification has been at the foundation of molecular electronics. Most single-molecule diodes realized experimentally so far are based on asymmetries in the coupling with the electrodes or using the donor–acceptor principle. In general, however, their rectification ratios are usually small (

El presente estudio aborda algunos aspectos del proyecto The Beatles Anthology (1995-2000) como ejemplo de creatividad simbólica y propuesta transmedia de memoria, mediante una perspectiva propia de la historia de la comunicación social y la interpretación narrativa. Se propone un enfoque comparado, que sitúa The Beatles Anthology en una secuencia histórica más amplia sobre la transmediación de la obra musical e icónica del grupo británico. Finalmente, aborda las respuestas suscitadas desde diversas comunidades interpretativas.

88 Pags.- 4 Figs.- 3 Tabls. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809 This article belongs to a special issue "Quantification and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in Mediterranean cropping systems" / Edited By Alberto Sanz-Cobena, Luis Lassaletta, Josette Garnier and Pete Smith, available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809/238/supp/C, An integrated assessment of the potential of different management practices for mitigating specific components of the total GHG budget (N2O and CH4 emissions and C sequestration) of Mediterranean agrosystems was performed in this study. Their suitability regarding both yield and environmental (e.g. nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization) sustainability, and regional barriers and opportunities for their implementation were also considered. Based on its results best strategies to abate GHG emissions in Mediterranean agro-systems were proposed. Adjusting N fertilization to crop needs in both irrigated and rain-fed systems could reduce N2O emissions up to 50% compared with a non-adjusted practice. Substitution of N synthetic fertilizers by solid manure can be also implemented in those systems, and may abate N2O emissions by about 20% under Mediterranean conditions, with additional indirect benefits associated to energy savings and positive effects in crop yields. The use of urease and nitrification inhibitors enhances N use efficiency of the cropping systems and may mitigate N2O emissions up to 80% and 50%, respectively. The type of irrigation may also have a great mitigation potential in the Mediterranean region. Drip-irrigated systems have on average 80% lower N2O emissions than sprinkler systems and drip-irrigation combined with optimized fertilization showed a reduction in direct N2O emissions up to 50%. Methane fluxes have a relatively small contribution to the total GHG budget of Mediterranean crops, which can mostly be controlled by careful management of the water table and organic inputs in paddies. Reduced soil tillage, improved management of crop residues and agro-industry by-products, and cover cropping in orchards, are the most suitable interventions to enhance organic C stocks in Mediterranean agricultural soils. The adoption of the proposed agricultural practices will require farmers training. The global analysis of life cycle emissions associated to irrigation type (drip, sprinkle and furrow) and N fertilization rate (100 and 300 kg N ha−1 yr−1) revealed that these factors may outweigh the reduction in GHG emissions beyond the plot scale. The analysis of the impact of some structural changes on top-down mitigation of GHG emissions revealed that 3–15% of N2O emissions could be suppressed by avoiding food waste at the end-consumer level. A 40% reduction in meat and dairy consumption could reduce GHG emissions by 20–30%. Reintroducing the Mediterranean diet (i.e. ∼35% intake of animal protein) would therefore result in a significant decrease of GHG emissions from agricultural production systems under Mediterranean conditions., The authors would like to thank the Spanish National R+D+i Plan (AGL2012-37815-C05-01, AGL2012-37815-C05-04) and very specifically the workshop held in December 2016 in Butrón (Bizkaia) to synthesize the most promising measures to reduce N2O emissions from Spanish agricultural soils. BC3 is sponsored by the Basque Government. M. L. Cayuela thanks Fundación Seneca for financing the project 19281/PI/14. This paper has been produced within the context of the REMEDIA network: http://redremedia.wordpress.com/.

Este artículo pretende estudiar, desde una perspectiva de género, el discurso construido alrededor de la mujer y los avances laborales conseguidos en las últimas décadas, en las series de televisión españolas ambientadas en el período histórico de la Transición. Se han seleccionado para ello dos ejemplos representativos: Cuéntame cómo pasó (TVE-1, 2001) y La chica de ayer (Antena 3, 2009). El análisis se centra en los conflictos profesionales planteados en ese momento histórico y su evolución posterior, partiendo de una concepción presentista. This paper studies from a gender perspective, the discourse built around the work progress on women in recent decades, in Spanish television series, contextualized in the historical period of Transition. For this purpose, it have been selected two representative cases: Cuéntame cómo pasó (TVE-1, 2001) and La chica de ayer (Antena 3, 2009). The analysis focuses on professional disputes raised in this historical moment and its future development, based on a conception presentist.

This study analyses the content of two TV series, La Duquesa and Alfonso, el principe maldito, shown by Telecinco in 2010. Its purpose is to highlight their characteristics as historical representations and representations of memory. Our study examines both series in three frameworks in order to locate and develop a qualitative interpretation of their content: banal nationalism, the symbolic evocation of the elites and that of ordinary people. Finally, the case study compares these series with the canon of historical fiction in current Spanish television productions.

Trabajo presentado a la XXXIst European Congress on Molecular Spectroscopy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, August 26–31,2012.-- et al., The infrared and Raman spectra of a donor (dithiole)–acceptor (dicyano) compound having a quinoidal thiazole bridge connecting the two electro-active groups have been recorded and the vibrational properties described on the basis of MP2 and DFT theoretical approaches. The spectroscopic data have been interpreted accounting for: (i) charge polarization or donor–acceptor charge separation in the S0 ground electronic state from the infrared spectrum; (ii) π-conjugation on the donor-(π-spacer)–acceptor sequence from the non-resonant Raman spectrum; and (iii) intramolecular donor-to-acceptor charge transfer character of the S0 → S1 excitation from the resonant Raman spectrum; and (iv) dependence of the non-resonant and resonant Raman spectra varying the spacer and the donor group. This paper highlights the interesting combination of vibrational spectroscopy and theoretical modeling in order to get insight on the relevant electro-optical and molecular properties on these compounds which are items of interest to develop organic molecules for non-linear optical applications., Financial support from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain (Projects CTQ2009-08790 and CTQ2011-22727) and Junta de Andalucía (Grant FQM-0159, Project P09-4708) and Gobierno de Aragón-Fondo Social Europeo (E39) are gratefully acknowledged. A predoctoral fellowship to EG (CSIC, JAE 2008) is also acknowledged. JLZP thanks the MINECO for a FPI grant.

A series of triads in which two naphthalene diimide (NDI) units are bridged through their 2-positions by cyclopenta[2,1-b; 3,4-b′]dithiophene-4-one, cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiazole-4-one, benzo[1,2-b:6,5-b′]dithiophene-4,5-dione, and benzo[1, 2-b:6,5-b′]dithiazole-4,5-dione was synthesised, characterised by cyclic voltammetry and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, modelled using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and examined as solution-processed films in n-channel OFETs. The influence of the electron affinity and ionisation potential of the bridging fused heterocycle and of the length and position of alkyl chains in the triads on the electronic properties of the materials in solution and electrical properties in the thin film was explored. The nature of the bridge has a strong effect on the optical and electrochemical properties of materials. Use of increasingly electron-poor bridging groups led to hypsochromic shifts of the low-energy visible absorption (assigned to a transition from a bridg...

We present a method to fabricate insulated gold mechanically controlled break junctions (MCBJ) by coating the metal with a thin layer of aluminum oxide using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition. The Al2O3 thickness deposited on the MCBJ devices was varied from 2 to 15 nm to test the suppression of leakage currents in deionized water and phosphate buffered saline. Junctions coated with a 15 nm thick oxide layer yielded atomically sharp electrodes and negligible conductance counts in the range of 1 to 10-4 G0 (1 G0 = 77 μS), where single-molecule conductances are commonly observed. The insulated devices were used to measure the conductance of an amphiphilic oligophenylene ethynylene derivative in deionized water.

In the pursuit of down-sizing electronic components, the ultimate limit is the use of single molecules as functional devices. The first theoretical proposal of such a device, predicted more than four decades ago, is the seminal Aviram–Ratner rectifier that exploits the orbital structure of the molecule. The experimental realization of single-molecule rectifiers, however, has proven to be challenging. In this work, we report on the experimental realization of a gate-tunable single-molecule rectifier with rectification ratios as high as 600. The rectification mechanism arises from the molecular structure and relies on the presence of two conjugated sites that are weakly coupled through a saturated linker. The observed gate dependence not only demonstrates tunability of the rectification ratio, it also shows that the proposed rectification mechanism based on the orbital structure is operative in the molecule.

Quantum interference is a well-known phenomenon that dictates charge transport properties of single molecule junctions. However, reports on quantum interference in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules are scarce. This might be due to the difficulties in meeting the conditions for the presence of quantum interference in a donor-bridge-acceptor system. The electronic coupling between the donor, bridge, and acceptor moieties must be weak in order to ensure localised initial and final states for charge transfer. Yet, it must be strong enough to allow all bridge orbitals to mediate charge transfer. We present the computational route to the design of a donor-bridge-acceptor molecule that features the right balance between these contradicting requirements and exhibits pronounced interference effects.

The role of agricultural landscapes in biodiversity conservation is an emerging topic in a world experiencing a worrying decrease of species richness. Farm systems may either decrease or increase biological diversity, depending on land-use intensities and management. We present an intermediate disturbance-complexity model (IDC) of cultural landscapes aimed at assessing how different levels of anthropogenic disturbance on ecosystems affect the capacity to host biodiversity depending on the land matrix heterogeneity. It is applied to the Mallorca Island, amidst the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. The model uses the disturbance exerted when farmers alter the Net Primary Production through land-use change as well as when they remove a share of it (HANPP), together with Shannon–Wiener index (H′) of land-cover diversity. The model is tested with a twofold-scalar experimental design (1:50,000 and 1:5000) of a set of landscape units along three time points (1956, 1989, 2011). Species richness of breeding and wintering birds, taken as a biodiversity proxy, is used in an exploratory factor analysis. The results clearly show that when intermediate levels of HANPP are performed within intermediate levels of complexity (H′) in landscape patterns, like agro-forest mosaics, great bird species richness and high socio-ecological resilience can be maintained. Yet, these complex-heterogeneous landscapes are currently vanishing due to industrial farm intensification, rural abandonment and urban sprawl. The results make apparent the usefulness of transferring the concept of intermediate disturbance-complexity interplay to cultural landscapes. Our spatial-explicit IDC model can be used as a tool for strategic environmental assessment of land-use planning.

A notable feature of recent Spanish comics is their use of a viewpoint characterized by the transmission and (re) presentation of original testimonies, remade by authors who belong to later generations that had no direct experience of the Civil War. This article focuses on seven graphic works: Un largo silencio (1997), Nuestra Guerra Civil (2006), El arte de volar (2009), Los surcos del azar (2013), Las guerras silenciosas (2014), Un medico novato (2013) and Atrapado en Belchite (2015). The stories in these works recall the recent past from a common perspective, one that emphasizes the individual protagonist's role in traumatic events. However, these narratives also employ characteristics that are specific to each story. This article reflects on the symbiosis between the shared elements of these works, and the more individual or original elements, in order to shed light on the important role of graphic narratives in the creation of spaces where memory and 'postmemory' can be expressed.

Resumen . En la medida en que el entorno empresarial se ha modificado el desempeno de las entidades ha cobrado diversos matices, exigiendo un enfoque diferente. El presente articulo tiene como objetivo analizar la determinacion multidimensional del Desempeno Empresarial Sostenible. El analisis critico de la bibliografia especializada centro la atencion en los objetivos que persiguen cada propuesta, las dimensiones y los indicadores que se evaluan. Se demuestra: que las propuestas analizadas son, mayoritariamente, unilaterales y excluyentes, con un sesgo a favor del aspecto economico-financiero y la supresion preceptiva de la dimension medioambiental y social; la necesidad del enfoque multidimensional del desempeno empresarial sostenible para lograr un analisis mas integral de la relacion de la empresa con su entorno; que sus cuatro dimensiones (ambiental, economico–tecnologica, legal y social), representan sus determinaciones cualitativas, que posibilitan un enfoque multilateral y permiten identificar las determinaciones cuantitativas para su medicion y evaluacion.. Palabras clave : desempeno empresarial sostenible, determinacion multidimensional. Abstract . Since the business environment has modified the performance of the entities it has charged diverse nuances, demanding a different focus. The present article has as objective to analyze the multidimensional determination of the Sustainable Business Performance. The critical analysis of the specialized bibliography centered the attention in the objectives that pursue each proposal, the dimensions and the indicators that are evaluated. It is demonstrated: that the analyzed proposals are, for the most part, unilateral and excluding, with a bias in favor of the economic-financial aspect and the mandatory suppression of the environmental and social dimension; the necessity of the multidimensional focus of the sustainable business performance to achieve a more integral analysis of the relationship of the company with their environment; that its four dimensions (environmental, economic -technological, legal, and social), represent their qualitative determinations that facilitate a multilateral focus and they allow to identify the quantitative determinations for their measuring and evaluation. Key words : sustainable business performance, multidimensional determination.

Cheeses made from ewes’ milk by using calf rennet (CR) were compared with those produced with powdered plant coagulant (PPC) obtained from Cynara cardunculus or 50:50 mixture of PPC and CR, by determining different chemical, biochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics throughout the ripening. For most of the chemical and microbiological parameters studied, no differences were observed between the coagulants used. However, significantly higher ( P

By reconstructing the nutrient balance of a Catalan v illage circa 1861-65 we examine the sustainability of organic agricultural sy stems in the northwest Mediterranean bioregion prior to the green rev olution and the question of whether the nutrients extracted f rom the soil were replenished. With a population density of 59 inhabitants per square km, similar to other northern European rural areas at that time, and a lower liv estock density per cropland unit, this v illage experienced a manure shortage. The gap was f illed by other labour-intensiv e way s of transf erring nutrients f rom uncultiv ated areas into the cropland. Key elements in this agricultural sy stem were v iney ards because they hav e f ew nutrient requirements, and woodland and scrublands as sources of relev ant amounts of nutrients collected in sev eral ways.

A simple synthesis of dipolar one- and two-dimensional chromophores bearing two or three 4H-pyran-4-ylidene moieties is reported. Whereas the pyranylidene fragments acting as donors are proaromatic, the spacer one is not. In the linear derivatives, chain elongation gives rise to a sharp increase in the second order nonlinear optical responses, but some V-shaped derivatives display first hyperpolarizabilities (β) lower than those of their linear analogues. This uncommon feature lends experimental support to previous theoretical studies on the relative contribution and sign of the β-tensor components., Financial support from MICINNFEDER (CTQ2008-02942 and MAT2008-06522C02-02) and Gobierno de Aragón-Fondo Social Europeo (E39) is gratefully acknowledged. Predoctoral fellowships to E. Galán (CSIC, JAE 2008) and R. Alicante (FPI BES 2006- 12104) are also acknowledged.