|
Agostini, C. A., Nasirov, S., & Silva, C. (2016). Solar PV Planning Toward Sustainable Development in Chile: Challenges and Recommendations. J. Environ. Dev., 25(1), 25–46.
Abstract: Over the past decade, the promotion of renewable energy projects in Chile, especially solar energy projects, has become increasingly important, as energy dependence from foreign fossil fuels has increased and concerns regarding climate change continue to grow, posing a significant challenge to the local economy. Even though recent developments toward a more sustainable energy matrix in Chile have significantly increased the investment in the solar energy sector, social and environmental fragilities, combined with the lack of well-functioning institutions and the historical marginalization of indigenous communities who have been affected by several energy projects, result in gradually increasing conflictive situations. Unless proper mechanisms are designed and implemented to rapidly and correctly address these challenges, Chile could miss the opportunities that solar energy projects can provide to the development of its communities and to the economic growth of its regions. This article studies solar photovoltaics planning in Chile, focusing on the recent developments and the main challenges ahead, and proposes policy recommendations for effectively addressing these challenges.
|
|
|
Arias, M. B., Poupin, M. J., & Lardies, M. A. (2011). Plasticity of life-cycle, physiological thermal traits and Hsp70 gene expression in an insect along the ontogeny: Effect of temperature variability. J. Therm. Biol., 36(6), 355–362.
Abstract: It is considered that extreme environmental temperature, rather than mean temperatures exert a selective pressure in ectotherms. Consequently, it is important to understand how the predicted increase in temperature variance with a higher frequency of extreme events in climate change is likely to impact on organisms. Thermal tolerance traits (i.e. chill-coma, recovery time, Hsp70 expression) are directly linked with performance in ectotherms and have consequences in life-history traits. We examined the effects of temperature variability on thermal tolerance and life-history traits through ontogeny of an insect with a complex life-cycle: the yellow mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor. We established two common gardens with 100 recently ovoposited eggs each. Larvae were reared from hatching to adult on either a variable (mean=18 degrees C and a variance of 6.8 degrees C) or constant (18 +/- 1 degrees C) thermal environment. Development rate and growth rate were similar between thermal environments. Results indicate that larvae reared in a variable environment are more cold-tolerant than larvae of a constant environment. Interestingly, these results are reversed in the adult stage, outlining an inter-stage physiological cost. Gene expression pattern of an Hsp70 gene was well correlated with larval thermotolerance to cold in the variable environment but higher gene expression in adults is not correlated with individual's thermotolerance. We conclude that chill-coma, recovery time and Hsp70 gene expression are plastic in response to a thermal environment but also change significantly their responses depending on the ontogenetic stage, implying that the response of adult individuals is linked to early stages of the life-cycle. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,
|
|
|
Canessa, E., & Chaigneau, S. (2014). The dynamics of social agreement according to Conceptual Agreement Theory. Qual. Quant., 48(6), 3289–3309.
Abstract: Many social phenomena can be viewed as processes in which individuals in social groups develop agreement (e.g., public opinion, the spreading of rumor, the formation of social and linguistic conventions). Conceptual Agreement Theory (CAT) models social agreement as a simplified communicational event in which an Observer and Actor exchange ideas about a concept , and where uses that information to infer whether 's conceptual state is the same as its own (i.e., to infer agreement). Agreement may be true (when infers that is thinking and this is in fact the case, event ) or illusory (when infers that is thinking and this is not the case, event ). In CAT, concepts that afford or become more salient in the minds of members of social groups. Results from an agent-based model (ABM) and probabilistic model that implement CAT show that, as our conceptual analyses suggested would be the case, the simulated social system selects concepts according to their usefulness to agents in promoting agreement among them (Experiment 1). Furthermore, the ABM exhibits more complex dynamics where similar minded agents cluster and are able to retain useful concepts even when a different group of agents discards them (Experiment 2). We discuss the relevance of CAT and the current findings for analyzing different social communication events, and suggest ways in which CAT could be put to empirical test.
|
|
|
Dauelsberg, P., Matus, J. T., Poupin, M. J., Leiva-Ampuero, A., Godoy, F., Vega, A., et al. (2011). Effect of pollination and fertilization on the expression of genes related to floral transition, hormone synthesis and berry development in grapevine. J. Plant Physiol., 168(14), 1667–1674.
Abstract: In the present work, the effect of assisted fertilization on anatomical, morphological and gene expression changes occurring in carpels and during early stages of berry development in Vitis vinifera were studied. Inflorescences were emasculated before capfall, immediately manually pollinated (EP) and fruit development was compared to emasculated but non-pollinated (ENP) and self-pollinated inflorescences (NESP). The diameter of berries derived from pollinated flowers (EP and NESP) was significantly higher than from non-pollinated flowers (ENP) at 21 days after emasculation/pollination (DAE), and a rapid increase in the size of the inner mesocarp, together with the presence of an embryo-like structure, were observed. The expression of gibberellin oxidases (GA200x and GA2ox), anthranilate synthase (related to auxin synthesis) and cytokinin synthase coding genes was studied to assess the relationship between hormone synthesis and early berry development, while flower patterning genes were analyzed to describe floral transition. Significant expression changes were found for hormone-related genes, suggesting that their expression at early stages of berry development (13 DAE) is related to cell division and differentiation of mesocarp tissue at a later stage (21 DAE). Expression of hormone-related genes also correlates with the expression of VvHB13, a gene related to mesocarp expansion, and with an increased repression of floral patterning genes (PISTILLATA and TM6), which may contribute to prevent floral transition inhibiting fruit growth before fertilization takes place. (C) 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
Herrera, M. N. (2023). The contribution of the Chilean mining industry to the achievement of the 17 sustainable development goals. Geosystem Eng., 25(3-4), 64–82.
Abstract: Chile is a world leader in copper production and is expected to reach production of around 6,237,000 tons of fine copper by 2022. On the other hand, in 2021 the production of copper by the hydrometallurgical route reached 1,509,000 tons and that of the smelting and refining route was 4,606,000 tons. Considering this production scenario, this article describes in a general way the contributions that the Chilean mining industry has made to the fulfillment of the 17 sustainable development goals, SDGs. The main advances are highlighted, besides discussing the main pending tasks to comply with the commitments made by Chile towards the international community.
|
|
|
Manriquez, P. H., Jara, M. E., Torres, R., Mardones, M. L., Lagos, N. A., Lardies, M. A., et al. (2014). Effects of ocean acidification on larval development and early post-hatching traits in Concholepas concholepas (loco). Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 514, 87–103.
Abstract: Larval stages represent a bottleneck influencing the persistence of marine populations with complex life cycles. Concholepas concholepas is a gastropod species that sustains the most important small-scale artisanal fisheries of the Chile-Peru Humboldt Coastal current system. In this study, newly-laid egg capsules of C. concholepas collected from 3 localities along the Chilean coast were used to evaluate the potential consequences of projected near-future ocean acidification (OA) on larval development and early post-hatching larval traits. We compared hatching time, hatching success and early survivorship of encapsulated larvae reared under contrasting average levels of pCO(2): 382 (present-day), ca. 715 and ca. 1028 μatm CO2 (levels expected in near-future scenarios of OA). Moreover, we compared morphological larval traits such as protoconch size, thickness and statolith size at hatching. Some of the developmental traits were negatively affected by pCO(2) levels, source locality, female identity, or the interaction between those factors. Meanwhile, the effect of pCO(2) levels on morphological larval traits showed significant interactions depending on differences among egg capsules and females. Our results suggest that OA may decouple hatching time from oceanographic processes associated with larval transport and reduce larval survivorship during the dispersive phase, with a potential impact on the species' population dynamics. However, the results also show geographic variability and developmental plasticity in the investigated traits. This variation may lead to an increased acclimatization ability, facilitate the persistence of natural populations and mitigate the negative effects that OA might have on landings and revenues derived from the fishery of this species.
|
|
|
Melo, I. C., Queiroz, G. A., Junior, P. N. A., de Sousa, T. B., Yushimito, W. F., & Pereira, J. (2023). Sustainable digital transformation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs): A review on performance. Heliyon, 9(3), e13908.
Abstract: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are responsible for 90% of all business and 50% of employment globally, mostly female jobs. Therefore, measuring SMEs' performance under the digital transformation (DT) through methods that encompass sustainability represents an essential tool for reducing poverty and gender inequality (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). We aimed to describe and analyze the state-of-art performance evaluations of digital transformation in SMEs, mainly focusing on performance measurement. Also, we aimed to determine whether the tools encompass the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic). Through a systematic literature review (SLR), a search on Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus resulted in the acceptance of 74 peer-reviewed papers published until December 2021. Additionally, a bibliometrics investigation was executed. Although there was no time restriction, the oldest paper was published in 2016, indicating that DT is a new research topic with increasing interest. Italy, China, and Finland are the countries that have the most published on the theme. Based on the results, a conceptual framework is proposed. Also, two future research directions are presented and discussed, one for theoretical and another for practical research. Among the theoretical development, it is essential to work on a widely accepted SME definition. Among the practical research, nine directions are identified-e.g., applying big data, sectorial and regional prioritization, cross-temporal investigations etc. Researchers can follow the presented avenues and roads to guide their researchers toward the most relevant topics with the most urgent necessity of investigation.
|
|
|
O'Ryan, R., & Pereira, M. (2015). Participatory indicators of sustainability for the salmon industry: The case of Chile. Mar. Pol., 51, 322–330.
Abstract: In this paper a methodological approach is proposed and applied to undertake a participatory process to obtain sustainable development indicators for the salmon sector in Chile including a common vision of sustainability for this industry. The selected indicators are a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches, which capture the specific needs and perceptions of the different stakeholders related to salmon farming while allowing a high degree of international comparability. A detailed step by step description of the methodology allows understanding how to obtain acceptable social, economic and environmental indicators, a result that can be replicated in other natural resource based productive sectors that are common in developing contexts. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
Perez-Quezada, J. F., Perez, C. A., Brito, C. E., Fuentes, J. P., Gaxiola, A., Aguilera-Riquelme, D., et al. (2021). Biotic and abiotic drivers of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stocks in a temperate rainforest. Forest. Ecol. Manag., 494, 119341.
Abstract: Forest ecosystems are recognized for their large capacity to store carbon (C) in their aboveground and belowground biomass and soil pools. While the distribution of C among ecosystem pools has been extensively studied, less is known about nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pools and how these stocks relate to each other. There is also a need to understand how biotic and abiotic ecosystem properties drive the magnitude and distribution of CN-P stocks. We studied a temperate rainforest in southern South America to answer the following questions: 1) how are C-N-P total stocks distributed among the different ecosystem pools?, 2) how do C:N, C:P and N:P ratios vary among ecosystem pools?, and 3) which are the main biotic and abiotic drivers of C-N-P stocks? We established 33 circular plots to estimate C, N, and P stocks in different pools (i.e. trees, epiphytes, understory, necromass, leaf litter, and soil) and a set of biotic (e.g., tree density and richness) and abiotic variables (e.g., air temperature, humidity and soil depth). We used structural equation modeling to identify the relative importance of environmental drivers on C-N-P stocks. We found that total ecosystem stocks (mean +/- SE) were 1062 +/- 58 Mg C ha-1, 28.8 +/- 1.5 Mg N ha-1, and 347 +/- 12.5 kg P ha-1. The soil was the largest ecosystem pool, containing 68%, 92%, and 73% of the total C, N, and P stocks, respectively. Compared to representative temperate forests, the soil of this forest contains the largest concentrations and stocks of C and N. The low P stock and wide soil C:P and N:P ratios suggest that P may be limiting forest productivity. The ecosystem C-N-P stocks were mainly driven by abiotic properties measured in the study area, however for N stocks, variables such as plant diversity and canopy openness were also relevant. Our results provide evidence about the importance not only of understanding the differences in C, N, and P stocks but also of the factors that drive such differences. This is key to inform conservation policies related to preserving old-growth forests in southern South America, which indeed are facing a rapid land-use change process.
|
|
|
Poupin, M. J., Greve, M., Carmona, V., & Pinedo, I. (2016). A Complex Molecular Interplay of Auxin and Ethylene Signaling Pathways Is Involved in Arabidopsis Growth Promotion by Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN. Front. Plant Sci., 7, 16 pp.
Abstract: Modulation of phytohormones homeostasis is one of the proposed mechanisms to explain plant growth promotion induced by beneficial rhizobacteria (PGPR). However, there is still limited knowledge about the molecular signals and pathways underlying these beneficial interactions. Even less is known concerning the interplay between phytohormones in plants inoculated with PGPR. Auxin and ethylene are crucial hormones in the control of plant growth and development, and recent studies report an important and complex crosstalk between them in the regulation of different plant developmental processes. The objective of this work was to study the role of both hormones in the growth promotion of Arabidopsis thaliana plants induced by the well-known PGPR Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN. For this, the spatiotemporal expression patterns of several genes related to auxin biosynthesis, perception and response and ethylene biosynthesis were studied, finding that most of these genes showed specific transcriptional regulations after inoculation in roots and shoots. PsJN-growth promotion was not observed in Arabidopsis mutants with an impaired ethylene (ein2-1) or auxin (axr15) signaling. Even, PsJN did not promote growth in an ethylene overproducer (eto2), indicating that a fine regulation of both hormones signaling and homeostasis is necessary to induce growth of the aerial and root tissues. Auxin polar transport is also involved in growth promotion, since PsJN did not promote primary root growth in the pin2 mutant or under chemical inhibition of transport in wild type plants. Finally, a key role for ethylene biosynthesis was found in the PsJN-mediated increase in root hair number. These results not only give new insights of PGPR regulation of plant growth but also are also useful to understand key aspects of Arabidopsis growth control.
|
|