The architectural sketch in the digital era

[EN] This article analyses the use of the sketch in contemporary architecture, which is characterized by a systematic recourse to computerized graphics media. On the basis of the intimate relationship between manual gestures and the creation of complex concepts, as defined by modern research in the fields of psychology, linguistics and neurology, it concludes that although the calculation capacity of the computer allows us to give free rein to our most complex fantasies, the distance which its mathematic algorithms impose between the mental processes of design and the graphic result of those processes is covered in a much more efficient way by graphic techniques as simple as the sketch and the design model; both techniques are based on human manual gestures and, thus, linked to our most profound cognitive mechanisms.[ES] El artículo analiza el uso del boceto en la arquitectura contemporánea caracterizada por el recurso sistemático a los medios gráficos informatizados. Basándose en la íntima relación que une a la gestualidad manual con el proceso de generación de conceptos complejos, tal como lo definen modernas investigaciones en los ámbitos de la psicología, la lingüística y la neurología, concluye que si bien la capacidad de cálculo del ordenador nos permite dar rienda suelta a nuestras fantasías más complejas, pero el distanciamiento que imponen sus algoritmos matemáticos entre los procesos mentales de diseño y el resultado gráfico de los mismos, lo suplen de manera mucho más eficiente técnicas gráficas tan sencillas como el boceto y la maqueta; técnicas ambas basadas en la propia gestualidad manual, y ligadas, por lo tanto, con nuestros mecanismos cognitivos más profundos.Llopis Verdú, J.; Giménez Ribera, M.; Barros Da Rocha E Costa, HA. (2013). El boceto arquitectónico en la era digital. Arquiteturarevista. 9(2):143-152. doi:10.4013/arq.2013.92.07S1431529

Prospective individual patient data meta-analysis of two randomized trials on convalescent plasma for COVID-19 outpatients

Data on convalescent plasma (CP) treatment in COVID-19 outpatients are scarce. We aimed to assess whether CP administered during the first week of symptoms reduced the disease progression or risk of hospitalization of outpatients. Two multicenter, double-blind randomized trials (NCT04621123, NCT04589949) were merged with data pooling starting when = 50 years and symptomatic for <= 7days were included. The intervention consisted of 200-300mL of CP with a predefined minimum level of antibodies. Primary endpoints were a 5-point disease severity scale and a composite of hospitalization or death by 28 days. Amongst the 797 patients included, 390 received CP and 392 placebo; they had a median age of 58 years, 1 comorbidity, 5 days symptoms and 93% had negative IgG antibody-test. Seventy-four patients were hospitalized, 6 required mechanical ventilation and 3 died. The odds ratio (OR) of CP for improved disease severity scale was 0.936 (credible interval (CI) 0.667-1.311); OR for hospitalization or death was 0.919 (CI 0.592-1.416). CP effect on hospital admission or death was largest in patients with <= 5 days of symptoms (OR 0.658, 95%CI 0.394-1.085). CP did not decrease the time to full symptom resolution

Dietary α‐Linolenic Acid, Marine ω‐3 Fatty Acids, and Mortality in a Population With High Fish Consumption: Findings From the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) Study

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of α‐linolenic acid (ALA), a plant‐derived ω‐3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine ω‐3 fatty acids (long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to all‐cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥500 mg/day). Methods and Results: We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariable‐adjusted Cox regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated to walnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9‐y follow‐up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios for meeting ALA recommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56–0.92) for all‐cause mortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58–1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios for meeting the recommendation for long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67–1.05) for all‐cause mortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39–0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29–0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22–1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in all‐cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45–0.87]). Conclusions: In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all‐cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish‐derived long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.Controlled-trials.com/. Unique identifier: ISRCTN35739639

Identification and expression analysis of the Spodoptera exigua neuropeptidome under different physiological conditions

Neuropeptides are small signalling molecules acting as neurohormones, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Being part of the chemical communication system between cells within an organism, they are involved in the regulation of different aspects of animal physiology and behaviour such as feeding, reproduction, development and locomotion. Transcriptomic data from larval and adult tissues have been obtained and mined to generate a comprehensive neuropeptidome for the polyphagous insect pest Spodoptera exigua. Sixty-three neuropeptides have been identified and described based on their tissue specificity and their regulation in response to different abiotic perturbations. Expression analyses have identified those neuropeptides involved in ingestive and digestive behaviour of S. exigua larvae and revealed a general pattern of upregulation in the midgut during larval starvation. Our results represent a comprehensive neuropeptidome of a lepidopteran species that will be highly relevant to future studies and provide novel information of the insect’s perception of its environment.</p

Role of apple phytochemicals, phloretin and phloridzin, in modulating processes related to intestinal inflammation

© The Author(s).Plant-derived food consumption has gained attention as potential intervention for the improvement of intestinal inflammatory diseases. Apple consumption has been shown to be effective at ameliorating intestinal inflammation symptoms. These beneficial effects have been related to (poly)phenols, including phloretin (Phlor) and its glycoside named phloridzin (Phldz). To deepen the modulatory effects of these molecules we studied: i) their influence on the synthesis of proinflammatory molecules (PGE2, IL-8, IL-6, MCP-1, and ICAM-1) in IL-1β-treated myofibroblasts of the colon CCD-18Co cell line, and ii) the inhibitory potential of the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The results showed that Phlor (10–50 μM) decreased the synthesis of PGE2 and IL-8 and the formation of AGEs by different mechanisms. It is concluded that Phlor and Phldz, compounds found exclusively in apples, are positively associated with potential beneficial effects of apple consumption.We gratefully acknowledge research grant No. 5056/B/P01/2011/40 from the National Science Center (Poland) and project REFRESH (FP7-REGPOT-2010-1-264103)—Unlocking the potential of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research for strengthening integration with the European Research Area and region development. Project financed in the area of “Research Potential” of the 7th Framework Programme. J.A.G.-B. is holder of a “Juan de la Cierva” contract from MICINN. J.M.L.L. is holder of a “Ramon y Cajal” contract RyC-2015-18083.Peer reviewe

Compatibility of mycorrhiza-induced resistance with viral and bacterial entomopathogens in the control of Spodoptera exigua in tomato

BACKGROUND: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil-borne microorganisms that establish mutualistic associations with roots of most terrestrial plants. This symbiosis results in nutritional and defensive benefits to the host plant, usually conferring protection against biotic stresses, but its indirect impact on third trophic levels is still unknown. In the present work, we explore whether the symbiosis of tomato plants with Funneliformis mosseae (and/or exposition to herbivory) influences the interaction of the generalist pest Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with bacterial (Bacillus thuringiensis) and viral (baculovirus, SeMNPV) natural entomopathogens. RESULTS: Symbiosis with AMF and previous herbivory reduces the relative growth of S. exigua, increases its susceptibility to a sublethal dose of B. thuringiensis and has positive or neutral impact on the lethality of SeMNPV. Reduction of the phenoloxidase activity, a marker of the insect immune response, was associated with the larval feeding on plant material previously exposed to herbivory but not to the AMF. In addition, no changes in the insect gut microbiota could be associated with the observed changes in larval growth and susceptibility to the entomopathogens. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide the first evidence of compatibility of AMF symbiosis in tomato with the use of bacterial and viral entomopathogens, contributing to the development of novel approaches to combine the beneficial effect of AMF and entomopathogens in biological pest control. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.This work was supported by Grants RTI2018-094350-B-C32, RTI2018-094350-B-C31, PID2020-118787RA-100 and RED2018-102407-T funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF – A way of making Europe and the VIROPLANT project which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement no. 773567. AF was recipient of a PhD grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (No. FPU16/02363). CMC was supported by a Generació Talent contract from Generalitat Valenciana (No. CDIGENT-2019-009)

Intestinal Intervention Strategy Targeting Myeloid Cells to Improve Hepatic Immunity during Hepatocarcinoma Development

Innate immunity in the tumor microenvironment plays a pivotal role in hepatocarcinoma (HCC) progression. Plant seeds provide serine-type protease inhibitors (SETIs), which can have a significant influence on liver inflammation and macrophage function. To elucidate the influence of SETIs to counter pro-tumorigenic conditions, at the early stages of HCC development, it was used as an established model of diethylnitrosamine/thioacetamide-injured liver fed with a standard diet (STD) or high-fat diet (42%) (HFD). The administration of SETIs improved survival and ameliorated tumor burden via modulation of monocyte-derived macrophages as key effectors involved in diet-induced HCC development. RT-qPCR analyses of hepatic tissue evidenced a diet-independent downregulatory effect of SETIs on the transcripts of CD36, FASN, ALOX15, and SREBP1c; however, animals fed with an STD showed opposing effects for PPAR and NRLP3 levels. These effects were accompanied by a decreased production of IL-6 and IL-17 but increased that of TNF in animals receiving SETIs. Moreover, only animals fed an HFD displayed increased concentrations of the stem cell factor. Overall, SETIs administration decreased the hepatic contents of lysophosphatydilcholine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Notably, animals that received SETIs exhibited increased hepatic proportions of CD68+CX3CR1+CD74+ cells and at a higher rate in those animals fed an HFD. Altogether, the data evidence that oral administration of SETIs modulates the tumor microenvironment, improving hepatic innate immune response(s) and favoring a better antitumoral environment. It represents a path forward in developing coadjutant strategies to pharmacological therapies, with either a preventive or therapeutic character, to counter physiopathological conditions at early stages of HCC development.This work was financially supported by grants Food4ImNut (PRP_PID-2019-107650RBC22, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities—MICIU) and CYTED (La ValSe-Food, 119RT0S67); by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (PID2019-110183RB-C21); and by Ramon Areces Foundation (CIVP19A5937). A.B. has a predoctoral grant from the industrial predoctoral program of Community of Madrid (IND2017/BIO-7857). J.A.G.-B. was supported by a Standard European Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission (Grant Agreement 838991).Peer reviewe

ANÁLISIS DE FORMAS ARQUITECTÓNICAS

Esta publicación muestra, fundamentalmente, el cuerpo teórico de la asignatura de Análisis de Formas Arquitectónicas integrada en el primer curso de Arquitectura; estos planteamientos teóricos se desarrollan en distintos textos de los profesores y se ilustran con dibujos de alumnos y profesores. Los profesores de Análisis son los responsables de todas las asignaturas y trabajos que se incluyen en estas páginas; trabajos que pertenecen tanto a los alumnos como a sus profesores, por lo que a ellos está dedicada esta selección. Los textos que acompañan la exposición de los trabajos no responden al esquema de un texto académico, sino a una breve explicación de una metodología docente flexible, pero no por ello exenta de rigor, que se aplica en las asignaturas.García Codoñer, Á.; Llopis Verdú, J.; Masia Leon, JV.; Torres Barchino, AM.; Villaplana Guillén, RV.; Piquer Cases, JC.; Giménez Ribera, M.... (2012). ANÁLISIS DE FORMAS ARQUITECTÓNICAS. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/72468EDITORIA