Els avenços de la Cartografia: cap a la tercera dimensió

Advances in cartography: towards the third dimensionThe last fifteen years have witnessed an authentic revolution in the field of cartography, and specially in the three dimensional characterization of territory. The change is founded, undoubtedly, in improvements in the field of geographical positioning —global positioning systems— in that of the massive catchment ofgeographical data —with the development of aero-transported sensors that are increasingly more exact and powerful, like satellites and radars— and in their management —with the development of geographical information systems (GIS) and digital elevation models (DEM)—. From our perspective, four things have fundamentally changed: the way in which information is gathered, the degree of accuracy, the size of the geographical space reached and the popularization and diffusion of cartograph

Une synthèse sur la restauration fluviale dans le bassin de l’Èbre

L’état écologique et la fonctionnalité des cours d’eau du bassin de l’Èbre ont subi une détérioration remarquable au cours des dernières décennies, à cause du changement global et des pressions anthropiques directes. Face à cette problématique les initiatives de restauration sont encore peu abondantes, locales et très dispersées dans le territoire. Dans le contexte espagnol, le bassin de l’Èbre n’est pas moteur dans le développement de la restauration fluviale. L’administration hydrologique a préféré fondamentalement la récupération de zones humides. Cependant, des bases consolidées existent pour pouvoir développer une restauration fluviale dans l’avenir : des paradigmes théoriques associés aux groupes de travail, la mise en pratique de quelques actions comme exemples de démonstration et la possibilité de travailler de façon intégrée avec la conservation (des réserves naturelles fluviales) et la gestion d’inondations (l’espace de mobilité ou territoire fluvial)

Storm Gloria: causes and consequences

-Between 19th and 22nd January 2020, Storm Gloria severely affected the Mediterranean coastline, particularly Catalonia, the Region of Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Formed by the merger of two storms, the way it stalled, and its duration turned it into a high-energy episode that caused heavy, intense rainfall, heavy snowstorms, river flooding and an exceptional maritime storm. It caused numerous economic losses all over, affecting both inland regions and the coast, the latter more severely. The consequences cannot be attributed to climate change but instead are the direct consequence of the anthropic occupation of high-risk areas, and therefore of poor or non-existent land-use planning

Diseño de obras de control de aluviones basada en simulación de procesos hidrológicos torrenciales en cuencas de la Patagonia Design of alluvium control structures based on flash flood simulation in the Patagonia basins

Fenómenos climáticos torrenciales que producen aluviones y grandes movimientos de sedimentos (bajo distintas formas) son muy frecuentes en la Patagonia Argentina. Los estudios para el diseño de obras de control se realizan en general, a través de fórmulas empíricas sin verificar su aptitud a las condiciones patagónicas. En el presente trabajo se utilizan modelos matemáticos sencillos para la simulación hidrológica de crecidas en cuencas con escasa información hidrometeorológica y nula instrumentación. Esta metodología requiere estimar la lluvia de diseño asumiendo un nivel de riesgo, evaluar la eficiencia de distintos planes de control mediante simulaciones de distintas alternativas de obras y seleccionar aquella de menor costo.<br>Climatic processes leading to flash flood and large sediment movements (under different forms) are very frequent in Patagonia, Argentina. Often, projects of small reservoirs and levees are based on empirical formulations without a verification of their aptitude to the local conditions. In the present work, simple flood mathematical models are used for hydrological simulation in basins with scarce precipitation and flood data. This methodology requires estimation of the design storm associated with a risk level. It allows simulation and evaluation of alternative control projects, facilitating the selection of the least cost control scheme

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field