The accumulation of metals in estuarine environments represents potential threats to both aquatic ecosystems and human health, highlighting the need for reliable in situ biomarkers of contamination. In the burrowing crab Neohelice granulata (Brachyura, Varunidae), previous studies have shown that biochemical markers may be influenced by seasonal fluctuations, limiting their usefulness for assessing spatial patterns of metal exposure. Recently, morphological variation among organisms has been proposed as a biomarker of environmental stress. Building on this framework, the present study aimed to evaluate whether metal contamination is associated with morphological changes in N. granulata populations from different sites of the Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn were measured in sediments and crab hepatopancreas, and their relationship with carapace and chelipeds morphology were analyzed by traditional and geometric morphometric approaches. Results revealed similar spatial patterns of metal loads in sediments and crab hepatopancreas, reflecting differences in anthropogenic impacts among sites. Moreover, significant morphological differences in carapaces were detected among crab populations, consistent with the observed gradient of metal contamination. These findings suggest that metal exposure may be associated with the morphological variation in N. granulata and highlight its potential use as a biomarker of environmental stress in estuarine crabs. Finally, geometric morphometrics of the carapace proved more effective than traditional chelipeds morphometrics in distinguishing crabs’ populations exposed to different levels of metal contamination.
Atacames, located on the northern coast of Ecuador, lies within the Nazca–South American subduction margin and is highly exposed to near-field tsunamis, yet detailed local-scale risk assessments remain limited. This study develops an integrated and spatially explicit framework for tsunami risk assessment by combining a multi-century historical catalogue (1586–2019), synthetic seismic scenarios, hydrodynamic modelling, and geospatial multi-criteria analysis. A total of 27 tsunami scenarios (18 synthetic and 9 historical) were simulated using COMCOT, MOST (via ComMIT), and Tsunami Travel Time (TTT) models. The resulting hazard parameters—wave amplitude, inundation depth, and arrival time—were integrated with a GIS-based vulnerability model at 10 m spatial resolution, incorporating socio-economic fragility (poverty, vulnerable age groups, and disability) and physical accessibility constraints for evacuation. The worst-case synthetic scenario (Mw 8.8 earthquake located 105 km offshore) produced run-up values up to 10.5 m, with first-wave arrival times between 23 and 34 min, and an inundation extent of approximately 29.9 km2, affecting about 27,500 inhabitants (66
En este trabajo, brindamos una presentación crítica de tres aproximaciones clásicas al análisis de la primera persona en la literatura analítica contemporánea: las que respectivamente ofrecieron Elizabeth Anscombe, Gareth Evans y Saul Kripke. A partir de la discusión pormenorizada de cada una de estas tres influyentes vistas sobre el estado de la cuestión debatida, elaboramos una interpretación propia. Contemplamos aquí la accesibilidad al pensamiento egológico desde el prisma metafísico de la construcción ontológica del yo. Queremos poner de manifiesto lo que entendemos como el arraigamiento fundacional y antropológico del individuo y de su discurso autorreferencial. Para nosotros, en la lectura intencional por la que abogamos, el objeto, el sujeto y su expresión metalingüística se encuentran insertados en la praxis de la realidad social, de la que son partícipes, por lo que rellenan así la necesaria incompletitud del mundo de la vida.
This paper presents a model of the interplay between a policymaker and various interest groups, viewing the incumbent as a strategic lobbyist seeking to maximize re-election chances. We assume a political context where the government has discretionary power over tax extraction and public expenditure allocation. The model predicts that the incumbent’s optimal strategy is to form a minimum winning coalition, generating systematic asymmetry by favoring specific groups while exploiting others. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a repeated-interaction experiment involving one subject as the incumbent and two others representing interest groups. The results indicate that incumbents learn to strategically differentiate between groups to secure electoral support, a behavior that contradicts the predictions of inequality aversion models which favor equal resource distribution. Furthermore, we find that this adoption of "divide-and-rule" strategies correlates with Machiavellianism, suggesting that the mechanics of political survival in this context are driven by instrumental rationality rather than social preferences.
