Water relations and vulnerability to embolism are not related: Experiments with eight grapevine cultivars

Drought tolerance mechanisms at the leaf level have been reported for grapevines but less is known about their vulnerability to embolism caused by water stress. The objective of this experiment was to determine if there is a relationship between xylem hydraulic characteristics and drought resistance mechanisms at the leaf level. The experiment was carried out on 10-year-old plants of 8 V. vinifera cvs: 'Sauvignon Blanc', 'Chardonnay', 'Cabernet Sauvignon', 'White Grenache', 'Black Grenache', 'Alicante Bouschet', 'Tempranillo', and 'Parellada' grown under field conditions without irrigation under Mediterranean climatic conditions. Embolism vulnerability curves were drawn for each cultivar. Values of the osmotic potential at full turgor, and at the turgor loss point, and the leaf bulk modulus of elasticity were obtained from pressure-volume curves on 4 different dates, from berries at pea size until harvest. All cultivars except 'Chardonnay', which showed elastic adjustment, showed osmoregulation but different patterns in vulnerability curves were found for each cultivar. While 'Parellada', 'Tempranillo' and 'Black Grenache' proved to have the most vulnerable xylem, 'Chardonnay' and 'Sauvignon Blanc' were shown to have the least vulnerable xylem to embolism. There was no relationship between the level of vulnerability to embolism for each cultivar and the drought tolerance mechanisms at the leaf level under the environmental conditions of this experiment. &nbsp

Preassociative aggregation functions

The classical property of associativity is very often considered in aggregation function theory and fuzzy logic. In this paper we provide axiomatizations of various classes of preassociative functions, where preassociativity is a generalization of associativity recently introduced by the authors. These axiomatizations are based on existing characterizations of some noteworthy classes of associative operations, such as the class of Acz\'elian semigroups and the class of t-norms.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1309.730

Observational indications of magneto-optical effects in the scattering polarization wings of the Ca I 4227 \AA\ line

Several strong resonance lines, such as H I Ly-$\alpha$, Mg II k, Ca II K, Ca I 4227 \AA\, which are characterized by deep and broad absorption profiles in the solar intensity spectrum, show conspicuous linear scattering polarization signals when observed in quiet regions close to the solar limb. Such signals show a characteristic triplet-peak structure, with a sharp peak in the line core and extended wing lobes. The line core peak is sensitive to the presence of magnetic fields through the Hanle effect, which however is known not to operate in the line wings. Recent theoretical studies indicate that, contrary to what was previously believed, the wing linear polarization signals are also sensitive to the magnetic field through magneto-optical effects (MO). We search for observational indications of this recently discovered physical mechanism in the scattering polarization wings of the Ca I 4227 \AA\ line. We performed a series of spectropolarimetric observations of this line using the Zurich IMaging POLarimeter (ZIMPOL) camera at the Gregory-Coud\'e telescope of IRSOL (Switzerland) and at the GREGOR telescope in Tenerife (Spain). Spatial variations of the total linear polarization degree and of the linear polarization angle are clearly appreciable in the wings of the observed line. We provide a detailed discussion of our observational results, showing that the detected variations always take place in regions where longitudinal magnetic fields are present, thus supporting the theoretical prediction that they are produced by MO effects.Comment: Accepted by A&

Urban environment soundscape evaluation: Milan case study of noise events perceptions by citizens

As one of the main urban environmental pollutants, noise is becoming a real public health concern due to its impact on citizen's well-being. Real-operation noise monitoring can help policy makers in improving the quality of urban environments. To this end, Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks (WASNs) have been deployed in crowded city centers in both America and Europe. The main application of WASNs is to measure the noise levels from road traffic. Yet, other types of sounds can be found in urban areas, which may also affect citizen's health. Here, we aim to evaluate the citizen's perception of different urban sounds considering their psychoacoustic characteristics, namely loudness, sharpness, roughness, fluctuation strength and tonality. To this end, we have conducted an on-line and off-site listening test using a urban acoustic event dataset collected by WASNs in Milan. The dataset includes seven common urban noises such as sirens, horns, people talking, truck, works, among others. Participants have been asked to rate the level of agreement with adjectives such as loud, shrilling, disturbing, sharp or pleasant. The test responses from one hundred volunteers allow us to gather valuable information about people's perceptions of common urban noises

SEOM Clinical Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer (2016)

Esophageal cancer (EC) is an aggressive tumor that represents the 6th most common cause of cancer death worldwide. The estimated incidence in Spain is 2090 cases/year. Two main pathological subtypes exist, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The main differences between them are localization and underlying factors which are the principal cause of the recent incidence changes observed in west countries. Staging techniques and treatment options which combine surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, reflected the high complexity of the EC management. An undeniably multidisciplinary approach is, therefore, required. In this guide, we review the status of current diagnosis and treatment, define evidence and propose recommendations

How to bring out pre-service teachers’ previous experiences and beliefs? Teaching practices from the realistic model

[EN] Various teaching practices are presented to bring out pre-service teachers’ previous experiences and beliefs about the teaching and disciplinary knowledge required to be a teacher. These practices were introduced in subjects in social science education, mathematics education, teaching self-expression through movement and the practical training sessions of the bachelor’s degrees in pre-school and primary school teaching of the University of Girona. The teaching practices were planned and organised based on the teaching staff’s realistic training perspective. This view assumes that teacher training should integrate personal experiences, through reflection, with classroom practice and theoretical knowledge. The starting point is awareness of previous experiences and beliefs. These, if not adequately considered and dealt with, can be an obstacle to the acquisition of new knowledge.The tools and strategies used are role play, open-ended questions, introspective activities based on movement and image analogy. Analysis of the practices reveals how pre-service teachers are becoming aware of their previous experiences and beliefs, and how these can influence their professional identity. It is concluded that these aspects, which are usually deep-rooted, should be reconstructed through reflective cycles during initial teacher training[ES] Se presentan diversas prácticas docentes para hacer emerger las experiencias previas y creencias de los futuros maestros sobre los conocimientos didácticos y disciplinares necesarios para el oficio de enseñar. Estas prácticas se han llevado a cabo en asignaturas de Didáctica de las Sociales, Didáctica de las Matemáticas, Didáctica de la Expresión Corporal y el Prácticum de los Grados de Maestro de Educación Infantil y Primaria de la Universidad de Girona.Las prácticas docentes se han planificado y gestionado a partir de la perspectiva realista de formación del profesorado. Esta perspectiva asume que la formación de maestros debe garantizar la integración de las experiencias personales en la práctica de aula y los conocimientos teóricos, y ello a través de la reflexión. Desde esta perspectiva, el punto de partida es la toma de consciencia de las experiencias previas y creencias, ya que si no se consideran y gestionan adecuadamente pueden ser un obstáculo para la adquisición de nuevos conocimientos.Las herramientas y estrategias usadas son un juego de rol, preguntas abiertas, actividades introspectivas basadas en el movimiento y la analogía con imágenes. El análisis de las prácticas ha puesto de manifiesto cómo los futuros maestros van tomando consciencia de sus experiencias previas y creencias, y cómo éstas pueden influir en su identidad profesional. Se concluye que estos aspectos, que suelen estar muy arraigados, deben ser tratados a través de ciclos reflexivos durante la formación inicial de maestros para favorecer su reconstrucción.Alsina, A.; Batllori, R.; Falgás, M.; Güell, R.; Vidal, I. (2016). ¿Cómo hacer emerger las experiencias previas y creencias de los futuros maestros? Prácticas docentes desde el modelo realista. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 14(2):11-36. doi:10.4995/redu.2016.5672.SWORD113614