CCharPPI web server: computational characterization of protein–protein interactions from structure

The atomic structures of protein–protein interactions are central to understanding their role in biological systems, and a wide variety of biophysical functions and potentials have been developed for their characterization and the construction of predictive models. These tools are scattered across a multitude of stand-alone programs, and are often available only as model parameters requiring reimplementation. This acts as a significant barrier to their widespread adoption. CCharPPI integrates many of these tools into a single web server. It calculates up to 108 parameters, including models of electrostatics, desolvation and hydrogen bonding, as well as interface packing and complementarity scores, empirical potentials at various resolutions, docking potentials and composite scoring functions.The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013) under REA grant agreement PIEF-GA-2012-327899 and grant BIO2013-48213-R from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Development and cross-national validation of the Emotional Effort Scale (EEF)

Background: Researchers define Emotional Labour (EL) as the effort associated with meeting the emotional requirements of the job, yet nobody has ever directly tested this effort. Building on classic stress and ego depletion theory, this study develops the Emotional Effort Scale (EEF). Methods: In Study 1, exploratory (N = 197) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 182) were conducted with a British sample. In Study 2, the instrument was adapted to Spanish and measurement invariance was tested (N = 304). In Study 3, (N = 185), we tested convergent and divergent validity with the EL strategies (i.e., surface acting and deep acting) and the relationship between EEF and emotional exhaustion. Results: The final scale is a two-dimensional measure (explicit and implicit emotional effort) with good reliability levels in all samples (N = 818). Additionally, it shows adequate convergent, divergent and nomological validity. Conclusions: The Emotional Effort construct adds unique value to the literature. Thus, explicit effort seems to be the mechanism that explains the association between EL and exhaustion. Additionally, this study adapts and translates the measure to two of the most used languages in the world, enabling the emergence of cross-national studies in the field of emotions at work

Centennial-scale vegetation and North Atlantic Oscillation changes during the Late Holocene in the southern Iberia

High-reso CE to lution pollen analysis, charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs and magnetic susceptibility have been analyzed in the sediment record of a peat bog in Sierra Nevada in southern Iberia. The study of these proxies provided the reconstruction of vegetation, climate, fire and human activity of the last ∼4500 cal yr BP. A progressive trend towards aridification during the late Holocene is observed in this record. This trend is interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale variability of relatively more humid and arid periods. Arid conditions are recorded between ∼4000 and 3100 cal yr BP, being characterized by a decline in arboreal pollen and with a spike in magnetic susceptibility. This is followed by a relatively humid period from ∼3100 to 1600 cal yr BP, coinciding partially with the Iberian-Roman Humid Period, and is indicated by the increase of Pinus and the decrease in xerophytic taxa. The last 1500 cal yr BP are characterized by several centennial-scale climatic oscillations. Generally arid conditions from ∼450 to 1300 CE, depicted by a decrease in Pinus and an increase in Artemisia, comprise the Dark Ages and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Since ∼ 1300 to 1850 CE pronounced oscillations occur between relatively humid and arid conditions. Four periods depicted by relatively higher Pinus coinciding with the beginning and end of the Little Ice Age are interrupted by three arid events characterized by an increase in Artemisia. These alternating arid and humid shifts could be explained by centennial-scale changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation and solar activity

Dominance Measuring Approach using Stochastic Weights

In this paper we propose an approach to obtain a ranking of alternatives in multicriteria decision-making problems when there is imprecision concerning the alternative performances, component utility functions and weights. We assume decision maker's preferences are represented by an additive multi-attribute utility function, in which weights are modeled by independent normal variables, the performance in each attribute for each alternative is an interval value and classes of utility functions are available for each attribute. The approach we propose is based on dominance measures, which are computed in a similar way that when the imprecision concerning weights is modeled by uniform distributions or by an ordinal relation. In this paper we will show how the approach can be applied when the imprecision concerning weights are represented by normal distributions. Extensions to other distributions, such as truncated normal or beta, can be feasible using Monte Carlo simulation techniques

Ranking Alternatives on the Basis of a Dominance Intensity Measure

The additive multi-attribute utility model is widely used within MultiAttribute Utility Theory (MAUT), demanding all the information describing the decision-making situation. However, these information requirements can obviously be far too strict in many practical situations. Consequently, incomplete information about input parameters has been incorporated into the decisionmaking process. We propose an approach based on a dominance intensity measure to deal with such situations. The approach is based on the dominance values between pairs of alternatives that can be computed by linear programming. These dominance values are transformed into dominance intensities from which a dominance intensity measure is derived. It is used to analyze the robustness of a ranking of technologies for the disposition of surplus weapons-grade plutonium by the Department of Energy in the USA, and compared with other dominance measuring methods

Analyzing the disciplinary focus of universities: Can rankings be a one-size-fits-all?

The phenomenon of rankings is intimately related with the government interest in fiscalizing the research outputs of universities. New forms of managerialism have been introduced into the higher education system, leading to an increasing interest from funding bodies in developing external evaluation tools to allocate funds. Rankings rely heavily on bibliometric indicators. But bibliometricians have been very critical with their use. Among other, they have pointed out the over-simplistic view rankings represent when analyzing the research output of universities, as they consider them as homogeneous ignoring disciplinary differences. Although many university rankings now include league tables by fields, reducing the complex framework of universities' research activity to a single dimension leads to poor judgment and decision making. This is partly because of the influence disciplinary specialization has on research evaluation. This chapter analyzes from a methodological perspective how rankings suppress disciplinary differences which are key factors to interpret correctly these rankings.Comment: Robinson-Garcia, N., Jim\'enez-Contreras, E. (2017). Analyzing the disciplinary focus of universities: Can rankings be a one-size-fits-all? In: Downing, K., F.A. Ganotice (eds). World University Rankings and the Future of Higher Education. IGI Global, pp. 161-185. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-0819-9.ch00

Impacts of sea-level rise-induced erosion on the Catalan coast

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10113-016-1052-xThe Catalan coast as most of the developed Mediterranean coastal zone is characterized by the coincidence of stresses and pressures on the natural system with a high exposure and low adaptive capacity. Due to this, climate change-induced effects will increase natural hazards and aggravate their associated impacts and, in consequence, it is necessary to assess their effects for proper long-term management. In this work, we assess the impact of sea-level rise (SLR)-induced shoreline retreat on the Catalan coast for three scenarios ranging from 0.53 to 1.75 m by the year 2100. Implications are analysed in terms of affectation of two main functions provided by beaches, i.e. recreation and protection. Obtained results show that CC will be a serious threat to analysed functions since the expected enhanced shoreline retreat will severely decrease the recreational carrying capacity and the capacity of protection in the near future under tested scenarios. The actual level of development along the coastal zone reduces the natural resilient capacity of beaches to SLR in such a way that the lack of accommodation space can be identified as a main factor for the estimated impacts.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Alguns fongs corticioides trobats a les comunitats de Cistus de Catalunya

Algunos hongos corticioides encontrados en las comunidades de Cistus de Cataluña. Se citan o comentan 24 especies de afiloforales de himenio liso encontradas sobre madera o hojas de Cistus en descompo sición . Se aportan dibujos de los caracteres microscópicos de algunos de los taxones. Proponemos una clave de identificación provisional para las especies estudiadas. Entre los taxones citados destacamos por su frecuencia: Vuilleminia macrospora, Radulomyees confluens,Athelia mutabilis, A. galzinii, Phanerochaete ericina, P. Martelliana y P. tuberculata.Alguns fongs corticioides trobats a les comunitats de Cistus de Catalunya. Es citen o comenten 24 espècies d'afil·loforats d'himeni llis trobades sobre fusta o fulles de Cistus en descomposició. S'aporten dibuixos dels caràcters microscòpics d'alguns dels tàxons. Proposem una clau d'identificació provisional adaptada a les espècies estudiades. D'entre els tàxons citats destaquem, per la seva freqüència: Vuilleminia macrospora, Radulomyees confluens,Athelia mutabilis, A. galzinii, Phanerochaete ericina, P. Martelliana i P. tuberculata.fungal community, Cistion, Cistus, rockrose bushes, Catalonia, Spain