San Alberto Magno: Doctor de la Iglesia y Patrón de los estudiosos de las Ciencias Naturales

En 2011 se cumple el 80 aniversario de la proclamación como santo y Doctor de la Iglesia de Alberto de Bollstaedt o Alberto Magno por el Papa Pío XI. Además, coincide con el 70 aniversario de su nombramiento como Patrón ante Dios de los estudiosos de las Ciencias Naturales por el Papa Pío XI

Urbanismo y sistemas agrarios periurbanos / Urbanism and periurban agrarian ecosystems

Publicación de los resultados de la primera fase del proyecto “Integración de los espacios agrarios periurbanos en la planificación urbana y territorial desde el enfoque de los servicios de los ecosistemas - PAEc-SP” (financiado por el Plan Nacional de Investigación I+D+d 2008-2012), que se presentaron en el Seminario internacional celebrado en Madrid en noviembre de 2012. Esta segunda edición, de septiembre de 2013, incorpora las modificaciones realizadas a partir de los comentarios y recomendaciones de los expertos invitados, y de los agentes territoriales a los que se presentaron los primeros resultados de la investigación

Nuevos enfoques en la planificación urbanística para proteger los espacios agrarios periurbanos

En Europa los espacios agrarios periurbanos sufren la mayor presión urbanizadora: entre 1990 y 2000, el 77% de los nuevos suelos artificiales ocuparon áreas agrarias. Al analizar la evolución de los objetivos de la ordenación territorial en la Unión Europea, se hace patente la poca importancia que se da a los sistemas agrarios. Esto no es consecuente con el discurso ambientalista, ni se enfrenta al escenario que se avecina de crisis energética, cambio global y agotamiento de recursos. Tampoco la Política Agraria Común contribuye a preservar los espacios agrarios periurbanos, que van a jugar un importante papel en la viabilidad futura de nuestras urbes. La creación de figuras adecuadas de protección, su reconsideración en los instrumentos de ordenación y la revalorización de la actividad agraria reducirían las expectativas urbanizadoras, frenando su transformación. El análisis de distintos casos europeos ofrece interesantes lecciones sobre cómo avanzar hacia esos objetivos.In Europe, the periurban agrarian spaces receive the highest urban pressure: between 1990 and 2000, the 77% new artificial uses grew upon agrarian areas. Analyzing the evolving objectives of the spatial planning in the European Un ion, becomes evident the minor significance given to the agrarian systems. Neither this is consequence with the environmentalist discourse; nor is facing the scenario coming with the energy crisis, the global change and the depletion resource. Neither the Common Agricultural Policy helps to preserve periurban agrarian spaces which will play an important role in the future viability of our cities. The stablishment of adequate forms of protection, their reconsideration within the planning tools and the enhancement of agricultural activity would reduce the urban expectations, slowing down their transformation. The analysis of different European cases can provide interesting lessons on how to progress towards these goals

Potencialidad del enfoque de los servicios de los ecosistemas para la protección de la agricultura en la ordenación territorial

El modelo de dominación absoluta de las aglomeraciones urbanas sobre el campo ha entrado en crisis y también lo está haciendo el sistema agroalimentario globalizado, por su insostenibilidad, su injusticia y su incapacidad para asegurar la calidad de los alimentos producidos. Para llegar a definir un nuevo modelo más equilibrad, es necesario cambiar la percepción que se tiene de lo rural, superando la actual visión consumista y utilitarista, reconociendo el papel mucho más amplio que desempeña para la calidad de vida en la ciudad. En esta recomposición del modelo territorial cobran singular importancia los espacios periurbanos, por su condición de interfaz de encuentro entre lo rural y lo urbano

Forecasting financial short time series

We study the application of time series forecasting methods to massive datasets of short financial time series. In our example, the time series arise from analyzing monthly expenses and incomes in personal financial records. Differently from traditional time series forecasting applications, we work with series of very short depth (as short as 24 data points), which prevents fromusing classical exponential smoothing methods. However, this shortcoming is compensated by the the size of our dataset: millions of time series. The latter allows tackling the problem of time series prediction from a pattern recognition perspective. Specifically, we propose a method for short time seriesprediction based on time series clustering and distance-based regression. We experimentally show that this strategy leads to improved accuracy compared to exponential smoothing methods. We additionally describe the underlying big data platform developed to carry out the forecasts in an efficient manner (comparisons to millions of elements in near real-time)

Nuevos enfoques en la planificación urbanística para proteger los espacios agrarios periurbanos

In Europe, the periurban agrarian spaces receive the highest urban pressure: between 1990 and 2000, the 77% new artificial uses grew upon agrarian areas. Analyzing the evolving objectives of the spatial planning in the European Union, becomes evident the minor significance gived to the agrarian systems. Neither this is consequence with the environmentalist discourse; nor is facing the scenario coming with the energy crisis, the global change and the depletion resource. Neither the Common Agricultural Policy helps to preserve periurban agrarian spaces which will play an important role in the future viability of our cities. The stablishment of adequate forms of protection, their reconsideration within the planning tools and the enhancement of agricultural activity would reduce the urban expectations, slowing down their transformation. The analysis of different European cases can provide interesting lessons on how to progress towards these goals.En Europa los espacios agrarios periurbanos sufren la mayor presión urbanizadora: entre 1990 y 2000, el 77% de los nuevos suelos artificiales ocuparon áreas agrarias. Al analizar la evolución de los objetivos de la ordenación territorial en la Unión Europea, se hace patente la poca importancia que se da a los sistemas agrarios. Esto no es consecuente con el discurso ambientalista, ni se enfrenta al escenario que se avecina de crisis energética, cambio global y agotamiento de recursos. Tampoco la Política Agraria Común contribuye a preservar los espacios agrarios periurbanos, que van a jugar un importante papel en la viabilidad futura de nuestras urbes. La creación de figuras adecuadas de protección, su reconsideración en los instrumentos de ordenación y la revalorización de la actividad agraria reducirían las expectativas urbanizadoras, frenando su transformación. El análisis de distintos casos europeos ofrece interesantes lecciones sobre cómo avanzar hacia esos objetivos

Fourier transform mid infrared spectroscopy applications for monitoring the structural plasticity of plant cell walls

[EN] Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy has been extensively used as a potent, fast and non-destructive procedure for analyzing cell wall architectures, with the capacity to provide abundant information about their polymers, functional groups, and in muro entanglement. In conjunction with multivariate analyses, this method has proved to be a valuable tool for tracking alterations in cell walls. The present review examines recent progress in the use of FT-MIR spectroscopy to monitor cell wall changes occurring in muro as a result of various factors, such as growth and development processes, genetic modifications, exposition or habituation to cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors and responses to other abiotic or biotic stresses, as well as its biotechnological applicationsSIThe authors thank Antonio Encina, Penélope García-Angulo, and María de Castro for their helpful scientific discussion, and to Denise Phelps for the English revision of the manuscrip

Cellulose Biosynthesis Inhibitors: Comparative Effect on Bean Cell Cultures

[EN] The variety of bioassays developed to evaluate different inhibition responses for cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors makes it difficult to compare the results obtained. This work aims (i) to test a single inhibitory assay for comparing active concentrations of a set of putative cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors and (ii) to characterize their effect on cell wall polysaccharides biosynthesis following a short-term exposure. For the first aim, dose-response curves for inhibition of dry-weight increase following a 30 days exposure of bean callus-cultured cells to these inhibitors were obtained. The compound concentration capable of inhibiting dry weight increase by 50% compared to control (I50) ranged from subnanomolar (CGA 325′615) to nanomolar (AE F150944, flupoxam, triazofenamide and oxaziclomefone) and micromolar (dichlobenil, quinclorac and compound 1) concentrations. In order to gain a better understanding of the effect of the putative inhibitors on cell wall polysaccharides biosynthesis, the [14C]glucose incorporation into cell wall fractions was determined after a 20 h exposure of cell suspensions to each inhibitor at their I50 value. All the inhibitors tested decreased glucose incorporation into cellulose with the exception of quinclorac, which increased it. In some herbicide treatments, reduction in the incorporation into cellulose was accompanied by an increase in the incorporation into other fractions. In order to appreciate the effect of the inhibitors on cell wall partitioning, a cluster and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based on the relative contribution of [14C]glucose incorporation into the different cell wall fractions were performed, and three groups of compounds were identified. The first group included quinclorac, which increased glucose incorporation into cellulose; the second group consisted of compound 1, CGA 325′615, oxaziclomefone and AE F150944, which decreased the relative glucose incorporation into cellulose but increased it into tightly-bound cellulose fractions; and the third group, comprising flupoxam, triazofenamide and dichlobenil, decreased the relative glucose incorporation into cellulose and increased it into a pectin rich fraction.SISpanish Ministry of Science and Innovation programs ( AGL2011-30545-C02-02)This work was partly supported by grants from Junta de Castilla y León (LE 48A07

The use of FTIR spectroscopy to monitor modifications in plant cell wall architecture caused by cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors

[EN] Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy is a powerful and rapid technique for analyzing cell wall components and putative cross-links, which is able to non-destructively recognize polymers and functional groups and provide abundant information about their in muro organization. FTIR spectroscopy has been reported to be a useful tool for monitoring cell wall changes occurring in muro as a result of various factors, such as growth and development processes, mutations or biotic and abiotic stresses. This mini-review examines the use of FTIR spectroscopy in conjunction with multivariate analyses to monitor cell wall changes related to (1) the exposure of diverse plant materials to cellulose biosynthesis inhibitors (CBIs) and (2) the habituation/dehabituation of plant cell cultures to this kind of herbicides. The spectra analyses show differences not only regarding the inhibitor, but also regarding how long cells have been growing in its presence.SIThis work was supported by grants from Junta de Castilla y León (LE 17/04 and LE 48A07), University of León (ULE-2006-2