La corporalidad responsiva desde la fenomenología merleaupontyana y su expresión en la pintura

Following Merleau-Ponty´s inspiration, B. Waldenfels deals with embodiment emphasizing its responsive dimension, i.e., modes of bodily behavior and experience that respond to interpellations of the strange. From this view, the article aims to ex­plaining the intertwining of body and nature with the intention of showing that nature, understood as another side of human being, implies an alterity that cannot be reduced to the logic of intentionality nor to the logic of communication.The interpellation that arises from Nature (Anspruch) has, on the one hand, the meaning of appeal (Appel) in the sense of an address (Ansprache) to somebody, and, on the other, of pretention (Prätention) as an interpellation to something. Based on these presuppositions, the second part of the article tries to show how, by means of painting, a responsive action is set in motion. The features of singularity, unavoidable­ness, subsequence, asymmetry, and innovation that characterize the logic of the answer guiding this action.Siguiendo la inspiración de Merleau-Ponty, B. Waldenfels se ocupa de la corporali­dad y pone énfasis en su dimensión responsiva, es decir, en modos de comportamiento y experiencia corporales que responden a interpelaciones de lo extraño. Desde esta perspectiva, este trabajo aspira a elucidar el entrelazamiento cuerpo-Naturaleza con la intención de mostrar que la Naturaleza entendida como otro aspecto del hombre implica una alteridad que no se reduce ni a la lógica de la intencionalidad ni a la lógica de la comunicación. La interpelación que proviene de la Naturaleza (Anspruch) tiene, por una parte, el significado de una apelación (Appel), comprendida como alocución a alguien, y, por otra, el de una pretensión (Prätention), en el sentido de una interpelación a algo (Ansprache). Con base en estos presupuestos, la segunda parte de la exposición apunta a ilustrar la manera como a través de la pintura se pone en marcha un actuar responsivo, que se orienta por los caracteres singularidad, ineludibilidad, posterioridad, asimetría e innovación que caracterizan a la lógica de la respuesta

Economic analysis on the impacts of climate change in the maresme coast

L’objectiu principal d’aquesta tesi és desenvolupar una metodologia per a quantificar els impactes del canvi climàtic a nivell local i per a expressar aquest resultat en termes econòmics. En particular, aquest treball considera Catalunya, Espanya, i calcula les pèrdues totals econòmiques que el canvi climàtic pot representar sota un escenari específic per quatre zones costeres vulnerables del Maresme, la comarca al nord de Barcelona. El capítol 2 identifica els efectes del canvi climàtic que s’han de considerar per a calcular les pèrdues totals econòmiques a zones costeres. Basant-se en el coneixement científic actual, intenta presentar les línies de tendència del passat i escenaris pel futur tant a nivell global com al local, per tal d’establir la magnitud dels canvis identificats a escala mundial. No obstant, deixa de banda els impactes que es considera que no provoquin un dany significatiu a la línia del litoral, i conseqüentment els impactes estudiats són la temperatura de l’aire i dels oceans, la precipitació, la salinitat de l’aigua marina i el nivell del mar. En el tercer capítol, es presenta una revisió de la literatura per tal de preparar el desenvolupament d’una metodologia per a calcular els impactes del canvi climàtic. En aquest capítol, diversos estudis, informes i tesis es presenten per a donar una visió general de projectes que ja han encarat un problema similar, o que simplement puguin proporcionar eines pel següent capítol. Després de la revisió de la literatura i basant-se en els seus resultats, es proposa una metodologia en el capítol 4 per tal d’avaluar les pèrdues monetàries que el canvi climàtic pot suposar a nivell local. Es divideix seguint dues perspectives, pèrdues socioeconòmiques i naturals, i una de combinada per a subratllar la particularitat del cas de les platges. Pels impactes socioeconòmics, el valor de les construccions es suma al valor del sòl. També es té en compte les infraestructures de transport, donant un valor per unitat de longitud. Per les pèrdues naturals, s’utilitza el mètode dels serveis d’un ecosistema, considerant un ambient natural com una suma de funcions que representen un benefici per la societat de manera directa o indirecta. En el capítol 5 el cas d’estudi es presenta, on es consideren quatre zones costeres de la regió del Maresme. Seguint la metodologia presentada en el capítol anterior, primerament es realitza la identificació dels usos del sòl. Seguidament, es calculen les àrees i longituds de cada ús del sòl. El tercer pas és valorar en termes econòmics cada subàrea. A continuació s’adopta un criteri de malmès o no-malmès, i cada ús del sòl es considera o bé perdut pels impactes del canvi climàtic o bé roman no malmès. Finalment, les pèrdues totals es calculen pels quatre casos d’estudi sumant el valor de les àrees danyades. El sisè capítol presenta els resultats pels quatre casos d’estudi, així com una visió general de l’estimació de les pèrdues econòmiques total que el canvi climàtic pot representar a la regió del Maresme. El resultat apunta a una pèrdua de 962 M€, que representa el 30% del capital públic del Maresme. En aquest capítol, les limitacions d’aquesta tesi també es presenten, i es suggereixen àrees per futura recerca de les parts que cauen fora de l’abast d’aquest treball.El objetivo principal de esta tesis es desarrollar una metodología para cuantificar los impactos del cambio climático a nivel local y para expresar este resultado en términos económicos. En particular, este trabajo considera Cataluña, España, y calcula las pérdidas totales económicas que el cambio climático puede representar bajo un escenario específico en cuatro zonas costeras vulnerables del Maresme, la comarca al norte de Barcelona. El capítulo 2 identifica los efectos del cambio climático que se tienen que considerar para calcular las pérdidas totales económicas en zonas costeras. Basándose en el conocimiento científico actual, intenta presentar las líneas de tendencia del pasado y escenarios para el futuro tanto a nivel global como local, con tal de establecer la magnitud de los cambios identificados a escala mundial. No obstante, deja de banda los impactos que se considera que no provoquen un daño significativo a la línea del litoral, y consecuentemente los impactos estudiados son la temperatura del aire y los océanos, la precipitación, la salinidad del agua marina y el nivel del mar. En el tercer capítulo, se presenta una revisión de la literatura con tal de preparar el desarrollo de una metodología para calcular los impactos del cambio climático. En este capítulo, diversos estudios, informes y tesis se presentan para dar una visión general de proyectos que ya hayan encarado un problema similar, o que simplemente puedan proporcionar herramientas para el siguiente capítulo. Después de la revisión de la literatura y basándose en sus resultados, se propone una metodología en el capítulo 4 con tal de evaluar las pérdidas monetarias que el cambio climático puede suponer a nivel local. Se divide siguiendo dos perspectivas, pérdidas socioeconómicas y naturales, y una de combinada para subrayar la particularidad del caso de las playas. Para los impactos socioeconómicos, el valor de las construcciones se suma al valor del suelo. También se tiene en cuenta las infraestructuras de transporte, dando un valor por unidad de longitud. Para las pérdidas naturales, se utiliza el método de los servicios de un ecosistema, considerando un ambiente natural como una suma de funciones que representan un beneficio para la sociedad de manera directa o indirecta. En el capítulo 5 el caso de estudio se presenta, donde se consideran cuatro zonas costeras de la región del Maresme. Siguiendo la metodología presentada en el capítulo anterior, primeramente se realiza la identificación de los usos del suelo. Seguidamente, se calculan las áreas y longitudes de cada uso. El tercer paso es valorar en términos económicos cada sub-área. A continuación se adopta un criterio de daño o no-daño, y cada uso del suelo se considera o bien perdido por los impactos del cambio climático o bien permanece no dañado. Finalmente, las pérdidas totales se calculan para los cuatro casos de estudio sumando el valor de las áreas dañadas. El sexto capítulo presenta los resultados para los cuatro casos de estudio, así como una visión general de la estimación de las pérdidas económicas totales que el cambio climático puede representar en la región del Maresme. El resultado apunta a una pérdida de 962 M€, que representa el 30% del capital público del Maresme. En este capítulo, las limitaciones de esta tesis también se presentan, y se sugieren áreas para futuro estudio de las partes que caen fuera del abaste de este trabajo.The main aim of this thesis is to develop a methodology to quantify the impacts of climate change on a local level and to express this result in economic terms. In particular, this project looks at Catalunya, Spain, and calculates the total economic losses that climate change may represent under a certain scenario for four vulnerable coastal zones in the Maresme, a region north of Barcelona. Chapter 2 identifies the climate change effects which must be considered when calculating the total economic losses in coastal zones. Based on the current scientific knowledge, it attempts to present past trends and future scenarios in both the global and local level, in order to establish the magnitude of the reported global changes. However, it leaves aside the impacts which are considered not to damage the coastal line in a significant matter, and hence the studied impacts are air and ocean temperature, precipitation, sea water salinity and mean sea level. In the third chapter, a literature review is presented in order to pave the road for the development of a methodology to calculate the impacts of climate change. In this chapter, several studies, reports and thesis are presented to give an overview of projects which have already tackled a similar problem, or which simply may provide tools for the following chapter. Following the literature overview and based on its results, a methodology is proposed in chapter 4 to evaluate the economic losses that climate change may have on a local level. It is divided following two perspectives, socioeconomic and natural losses, and a combined one underlining the particularity of the case of beaches. For socioeconomic impacts, the construction or buildings value is added to the land value. Transportation infrastructure is also accounted for, giving a per length unit value. As for natural losses, the ecosystem services approach is taken, by considering a natural environment as a sum of functions which represent a benefit to human society in a direct or indirect way. In the chapter 5 the case study is presented where four coastal zones of the Maresme region in Catalunya are studied. Following the methodology presented in the previous chapter, firstly, the identification of land uses is carried out. Then, the areas and lengths for each land use are calculated. The third step is to valuate in economic terms each subarea. Afterward a loss or unharmed criterion is adopted, in a similar way to pass/fail criteria, and each land use is considered to be lost to the impacts of climate change or to remain unharmed. Finally, the total losses are calculated in all four case studies by adding up the value of all the harmed areas. The sixth chapter presents the results for the four case studies, as well as a general overview of the estimated economic losses that climate change may represent for the Maresme region. The results point to a 962 M€ total loss, which represents 30% of the Maresme public capital. In this chapter, the limitations of this thesis are also presented, and future research is suggested in the areas that fall out of the scope of this study

Blockchain For Food: Making Sense of Technology and the Impact on Biofortified Seeds

The global food system is under pressure and is in the early stages of a major transition towards more transparency, circularity, and personalisation. In the coming decades, there is an increasing need for more food production with fewer resources. Thus, increasing crop yields and nutritional value per crop is arguably an important factor in this global food transition. Biofortification can play an important role in feeding the world. Biofortified seeds create produce with increased nutritional values, mainly minerals and vitamins, while using the same or less resources as non-biofortified variants. However, a farmer cannot distinguish a biofortified seed from a regular seed. Due to the invisible nature of the enhanced seeds, counterfeit products are common, limiting wide-scale adoption of biofortified crops. Fraudulent seeds pose a major obstacle in the adoption of biofortified crops. A system that could guarantee the origin of the biofortified seeds is therefore required to ensure widespread adoption. This trust-ensuring immutable proof for the biofortified seeds, can be provided via blockchain technology

A simple model of bank bankruptcies

Interbank deposits (loans and credits) are quite common in banking system all over the world. Such interbank co-operation is profitable for banks but it can also lead to collective financial failures. In this paper we introduce a new model of directed percolation as a simple representation for contagion process and mass bankruptcies in banking systems. Directed connections that are randomly distributed between junctions of bank lattice simulate flows of money in our model. Critical values of a mean density of interbank connections as well as static and dynamic scaling laws for the statistic of avalange bankruptcies are found. Results of computer simulations for the universal profile of bankruptcies spreading are in a qualitative agreement with the third wave of bank suspensions during The Great Depression in the USA.Comment: 8 pages, 6 Encapsulated Postscript figures, to be published in Physica A (2001

Porcelain enameling quality steel plates and weldments

Issued as Status report, no. 1-11, Summary report, no. 1-3, Special report, no. 1, and Annual report, no. 1, Project no. A-204Continued by Project no. A-30

What country, university or research institute, performed the best on COVID-19? Bibliometric analysis of scientific literature

In this article, we conduct data mining to discover the countries, universities and companies, produced or collaborated the most research on Covid-19 since the pandemic started. We present some interesting findings, but despite analysing all available records on COVID-19 from the Web of Science Core Collection, we failed to reach any significant conclusions on how the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we increased our analysis to include all available data records on pandemics and epidemics from 1900 to 2020. We discover some interesting results on countries, universities and companies, that produced collaborated most the most in research on pandemic and epidemics. Then we compared the results with the analysing on COVID-19 data records. This has created some interesting findings that are explained and graphically visualised in the article

Quantitative tandem affinity purification, an effective tool to investigate protein complex composition in plant hormone signaling : strigolactones in the spotlight

Phytohormones tightly regulate plant growth by integrating changing environmental and developmental cues. Although the key players have been identified in many plant hormonal pathways, the molecular mechanisms and mode of action of perception and signaling remain incompletely resolved. Characterization of protein partners of known signaling components provides insight into the formed protein complexes, but, unless quantification is involved, does not deliver much, if any, information about the dynamics of the induced or disrupted protein complexes. Therefore, in proteomics research, the discovery of what actually triggers, regulates or interrupts the composition of protein complexes is gaining importance. Here, tandem affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry (TAP-MS) is combined with label-free quantification (LFQ) to a highly valuable tool to detect physiologically relevant, dynamic protein-protein interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana cell cultures. To demonstrate its potential, we focus on the signaling pathway of one of the most recently discovered phytohormones, strigolactones

Data mining and analysis of scientific research data records on Covid 19 mortality, immunity, and vaccine development in the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic

In this study, we investigate the scientific research response from the early stages of the pandemic, and we review key findings on how the early warning systems developed in previous epidemics responded to contain the virus. The data records are analysed with commutable statistical methods, including R Studio, Bibliometrix package, and the Web of Science data mining tool. We identified few different clusters, containing references to exercise, inflammation, smoking, obesity and many additional factors. From the analysis on Covid-19 and vaccine, we discovered that although the USA is leading in volume of scientific research on Covid 19 vaccine, the leading 3 research institutions (Fudan, Melbourne, Oxford) are not based in the USA. Hence, it is difficult to predict which country would be first to produce a Covid 19 vaccine