Shifting Narratives of Electricity and Energy in Periods of Transition

This special issue aims at providing nuanced and multi-layered understandings of historical choices regarding, and perceptions of, electric supply and electrical technologies, by taking into consideration diverse groups, actors, agencies, and communities in distinct historical and regional settings. It also aims at rethinking energy systems, practices, and transitions through questions of gender, religion, race, design and architecture, material culture, colonialism, nationalism(s), and varied interpretations of tradition and modernity. It insists on reorienting our gaze from centring on electricity to examining electricity within existing energy regimes and sources, to historicise and problematise the place of electricity, electric supply and use within complex conceptions of energy transitions, thereby challenging linear narratives of progress and modernisation.publishedVersio

Elaboración de Repositorios de Contenidos a Través de Wikis como Técnica de Evaluación

Este artículo describe un método de aprendizaje y evaluación adaptado específicamente para una asignatura encuadrada en el EEES. Este método se adapta a las características de los contenidos y a las restricciones temporales existentes, que son las principales dificultades que la asignatura plantea. El método se basa en el uso de wikis para crear repositorios de contenidos que luego podrán ser compartidos vía Internet con cualquier usuario, lo que da un importante valor añadido al trabajo desarrollado por los alumnos. Tras dos cursos académicos aplicando este método, se ha logrado una experiencia muy positiva para docentes y alumnos, además de una serie de beneficios. Debido a ello, puede ser interesante aplicar esta experiencia en otras asignaturas

Production and social uses of the electricity in Asturias (1880-1936)

A la fin du XIXe siècle, le fluide électrique a été responsable des transformations profondes dans la vie quotidienne de la société asturienne, qu'incluaient, par exemple, des nouvelles formes d'organiser le temps social, de planifier le travail et les loisirs. L'électricité a consacré la rupture dans la séparation rigide entre la nuit et le jour qui existait avant de son apparition, et s'est révélée comme le meilleur moyen d'éclairage en surpassant aux huiles végétales ou minérales et au gaz d'éclairage. L'électricité alors est devenue une image symbolique du progrès et sa brillante lumière a commencé à conquérir l'espace public, l’espace de travail et même le domaine privé, comme une métaphore du triomphe de la société moderne industrielle et en induisant des modifications dans les habitudes et les coutumes. Ce qui est proposé avec cette étude c’est, par conséquent, un projet de recherche capable d'établir les commencements et le premier développement de l'industrie électrique dans les Asturies, comme contribution générale à l'étude du processus espagnol d'électrification. Cette étude essaie également de déployer une ample vision dans l'analyse, capable d'intégrer les multiples facettes et les implications du phénomène. Surtout, il y aura une attention spéciale aux approches socioculturelles du phénomène électrique, comme ceux qui se rattachent aux loisirs, à la divulgation de l'électricité, l'électricité et les espaces de représentation urbaines, l’imaginaire et les représentations de cette énergie ou à l'électricité et la vie quotidienne ou l'espace domestique. Bref, il s'agit de développer une vraie histoire sociale et culturelle de l'électricité, de ses représentations et ses pratiques à partir en utilisant les Asturies, cette région espagnole, comme laboratoire pour analyser l'interaction mutuelle entre techniques, société et culture.At the end of the 19th century, the electricity has been responsible for deep modifications in the daily life of the Asturian society that included, for example, new forms of organizing the social time or planning the paces of work and leisure. Electricity establishes the break in the rigid separation between night and day which existed prior to its appearance, and proved itself as the best way of lighting in surpassing other technologies as mineral or vegetable oils and gas lighting. The electricity then became a symbolic image of progress and its brilliant light began to conquer the public space, the workspace and even the private sphere, as a metaphor for the triumph of modern industrial society and by inducing changes in habits and traditions. What comes with this study is, therefore, a research project capable of establishing the beginnings and the first development of the electric industry in Asturias, a peripheral region in Spain, as a general contribution to the study of the Spanish electrification process. This study also tries to deploy a broad vision in the analysis, capable of integrating the many implications of the phenomenon. Above all, there is special attention to the socio-cultural approaches to the electrical phenomenon, such as those which relate to the leisure and the sociability, to the cultural outreach of electricity, electricity and urban spaces of representation, the imaginary of this energy or the relations between electricity, and everyday life or the domestic sphere. In short, it is to develop a true social and cultural history of electricity, its representations and practices from using Asturias, this Spanish region, as a laboratory to analyze the mutual interaction between technology, society and culture

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field