2 research outputs found
Social networks, disinformation and diplomacy: a dynamic model for a current problem
Abstract The potential of social networks for the circulation of disinformation as a strategy of diplomacy has been of great interest to the academic community, but the way in which it is propagated and modelled is still in its beginnings. This article aimed to simulate the propagation of disinformation in social networks derived from the diplomacy strategy, based on the elements of the system. The main research question that was opened up was how do the elements of disinformation derived from the social media diplomacy strategy interact to affect a susceptible population? For the design of the simulation model, system dynamics was used as the main technique in the re-search methodology in conjunction with statistical analysis. Five computational simulations were run for the adoption methods of susceptible and uninformed population, misinformation techniques and echo chamber. The model developed found that the diplomacy disinformation agent is able to spread its message efficiently through the bot outreach mechanism and only a part of the susceptible population unsubscribes to the disinformation agent’s account. Significant differences were identified in the absence of paid outreach, bots and trolls in the propagation of information, and in the variation in the timing of disinformation propagation. Consequently, the developed model allows the understanding of the problem of disinformation as a strategy of diplomacy from international rather than local dynamics, as well as the effects of the use of each element in the system
Ammonium uptake, transport and nitrogen economy in forest trees
AMMONIUM UPTAKE, TRANSPORT AND NITROGEN
ECONOMY IN FOREST TREES
Francisco M. Cánovas, Concepción Avila, Fernando N. de la
Torre, Rafael A. Cañas, Belén Pascual, Vanessa Castro-
Rodríguez, Jorge El-Azaz
Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad de Málaga, Spain.
Email: [email protected]
Forests ecosystems play a fundamental role in the regulation of
global carbon fixation and preservation of biodiversity. Forest trees
are also of great economic value because they provide a wide range of
products of commercial interest, including wood, pulp, biomass and
important secondary metabolites. The productivity of most forest
ecosystems is limited by low nitrogen availability and woody
perennials have developed adaptation mechanisms, such as
ectomycorrhizal associations, to increase the efficiency of N
acquisition and metabolic assimilation. The efficient acquisition,
assimilation and economy of nitrogen are of special importance in
trees that must cope with seasonal periods of growth and dormancy
over many years. In fact, the ability to accumulate nitrogen reserves
and to recycle N is crucial to determine the growth and production of
forest biomass. Ammonium is the predominant form of inorganic
nitrogen in the soil of temperate forests and many research efforts
are addressed to study the regulation of ammonium acquisition,
assimilation and internal recycling for the biosynthesis of amino
acids, particularly those relevant for nitrogen storage. In our
laboratory, we are interested in studying nitrogen metabolism and its
regulation in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster L. Aiton), a conifer
species of great ecological and economic importance in Europe and
for which whole-transcriptome resources are available. The
metabolism of phenylalanine plays a central role in the channeling of
carbon from photosynthesis to the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids
and the regulation of this pathway is of broad significance for
nitrogen economy of maritime pine. We are currently exploring the
molecular properties and regulation of genes involved in the
biosynthesis and metabolic fates of phenylalanine in maritime pine.
An overview of this research programme will be presented and
discussed.
Research supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness and Junta de Andalucía (Grants BIO2015-69285-R,
BIO2012-0474 and research group BIO-114).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech