One of us, J.A., is very grateful to CONCYTEC for a scholarship financing doctoral studies. A.T. is also very grateful to Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería and MINEDU Perú for special grants as a researcher professor. We are very thankful to H. Huanca and C. Luyo for achieving our X-ray diffractograms.

Background: Drones are reliable tools for estimating colonial seabird numbers. Although most research has focused on methods of improving the accuracy of bird counts, few studies have evaluated the impacts of these methods on bird behavior. In this study, we examined the effects of the DJI Phantom 3 drone approach (altitude, horizontal and vertical descent speeds) on changes in the intensity of behavioral response of guano birds: guanay cormorants (Phalacrocorax bougainvilli), Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata) and Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus). The breeding and non-breeding condition was also evaluated. Methods: Eleven locations along the Peruvian coast were visited in 2016-2017. Drone flight tests considered an altitude range from 5 to 80 m from the colony level, a horizontal speed range from 0.5 to 15 m/s, and a vertical descent speed range from 0.5 to 3 m/s. The intensity of th...

Nanowire/nanorod TiO2 structures of approximately 8 nm in diameter and around 1,000 nm long were synthesized by alkaline hydrothermal treatment of two different TiO2 nanopowders.

This research was possible thanks to the support of CONCYTEC- Peru, agreement No. 167 FONDECYT-UNI and the Faculty of Sciences of the National University of Engineering, Peru. The spectra of absorption, fluorescence and electron microscopy were obtained thanks to the collaboration with the IFUNAM of Mexico. The high resolution electronic microscopy images were obtained thanks to the collaboration with University of Sonora, Mexico.

TiO2 nanotubes were synthesized by alkaline hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles with a controlled proportion of anatase and rutile. Tailoring of TiO2 phases was achieved by adjusting the pH and type of acid used in the hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide (first step in the sol-gel synthesis). The anatase proportion in the precursor nanoparticles was in the 3–100% range. Tube-like nanostructures were obtained with an anatase percentage of 18 or higher while flake-like shapes were obtained when rutile was dominant in the seed. After annealing at 400°C for 2 h, a fraction of nanotubes was conserved in all the samples but, depending on the anatase/rutile ratio in the starting material, spherical and rod-shaped structures were also observed.