Interdisciplinary and International Workshop as Technological Design Method Focused on the European Ods Strategy

The innovative rules of the Europe 2020 Strategy, which follow the Lisbon Strategy (2000) and the Copenhagen Declaration (2002), promote smart and sustainable growth through the promotion of lowpollutant, resource-efficient and effective project strategies for improving human, social and environmental conditions. This paper illustrates the workshop design experience conducted in collaboration between the Escuela Superior de Edificacion (ETSEM) of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering (DICEA) of Università di Napoli "Federico II" and the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design (DADI) of Università della Campania "L. Vanvitelli", focusing on the added value for the three research groups to integrate different teaching methods according that strategies

Famous architectures in urban contexts: the impact of colours and materials

Architecture is not just a container or a place in which it is possible to perform functions; architecture is everything that surrounds us, it is the space in which we immerse ourselves and with which we communicate. It is not the shape of the project that first influences our perception of space, whether it is open or closed, but the colours and materials that characterise and define it, making it harmonious and pleasant or, in the opposite way, hostile and inhospitable. In 1981 the UNI 8289:1981 "Construction. Needs of the final user. Classification" defined the term "well-being" as "the set of conditions relating to states of the building system appropriate to life, to health, to the performance of the users' activities", how do colours and materials contribute to the conditions of well-being? Which are the targets that can be achieved through the wise use of these elements? The aim of this work is to analyse the application of colours and materials in famous architectures in order to determinate the impact at urban and human level, how they dialogue with the context and how they dialogue with human perceptions, identifying three directions of intervention: colour and materials as anthropomorphic relation, colours and materials as pictorial support, colour and materials as function

Wind-induced Cross-Strait Sea Level Variability in the Strait of Gibraltar using Coastal Altimetry and In-Situ Measurements

In this work, we retracked altimeter waveforms of ESA satellites. ERS2 RA and Envisat RA2 from descending track 0360 over the eastern side of the Strait of Gibraltar using the Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform ALES retracker

Assessing the Influence of Salmon Farming through Total Lipids, Fatty Acids, and Trace Elements in the Liver and Muscle of Wild Saithe Pollachius virens

Saithe Pollachius virens are attracted to uneaten salmon feed underneath cages at open-cage salmon farms in Norway. The aggregated Saithe have modified their feeding habits as they have switched from wild prey to uneaten food pellets, which could lead to physiological and biochemical changes in the Saithe. Variations in profiles of total lipids, fatty acids, and trace elements in Saithe liver and muscle were measured to evaluate the influence of fish feed from salmon farms on wild Saithe populations. Farm-aggregated Saithe had higher fat content in liver tissues than did individuals captured more than 25 km away from farms, but no clear differences were found in muscle tissues. High proportions of fatty acids of terrestrial origin, such as oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids, in liver and muscle tissues of farm-aggregated Saithe reflected the presence of wild Saithe at farms. Accordingly, low proportions of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids in Saithe tissues mirrored the feeding activity at farms. Variations in specific trace element signatures among fish groups also revealed the farming influence on wild Saithe. High levels of Fe, As, Se, Zn, and B in liver, but also As, B, Li, Hg, and Sr in muscle of Saithe captured away from farms indicated the absence of feeding at farms.This study was part of the project “Evaluation of actions to promote sustainable coexistence between salmon culture and coastal fisheries – ProCoEx” funded by The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF). The study was also supported by the Norwegian Research Council through the EcoCoast project

Influence of the oxidizing agent in the synthesis of graphite oxide

The oxidation capacity of several procedures described in the literature which use different oxidizing agents has been exhaustively studied in order to describe the best route for oxidation of this material. The oxidation capacities of different types of materials were evaluated in the synthesis of graphite oxide in an effort to obtain a product with similar characteristics to those provided by commonly employed methods. The results obtained show that graphite oxide structures are greatly influenced by the nature of the oxidizing agent used. It was concluded that it is possible not only to establish the number of oxygenated groups attached to the structure but also, and depending on the oxidizing agent used, to know the stability of graphite oxide. The different characteristics of each graphite oxide obtained could facilitate their use in multiple applications.La capacidad de oxidación de varios procedimientos descritos en la literatura que utilizan diferentes agentes oxidantes ha sido exhaustivamente estudiada con el fin de describir la mejor ruta de oxidación de este material. Se evaluaron las capacidades de oxidación de diferentes tipos de materiales en la síntesis de óxido de grafito en un esfuerzo por obtener un producto con características similares a las proporcionadas por los métodos comúnmente empleados. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que las estructuras del óxido de grafito están muy influenciadas por la naturaleza del agente oxidante utilizado. Se concluyó que es posible no solo establecer el número de grupos oxigenados adheridos a la estructura sino también, y dependiendo del agente oxidante utilizado, conocer la estabilidad del óxido de grafito

Generalised second law of thermodynamics for interacting dark energy in the DGP brane world

In this paper, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics (GSLT) in the DGP brane world when universe is filled with interacting two fluid system: one in the form of cold dark matter and other is holographic dark energy. The boundary of the universe is assumed to be enclosed by the dynamical apparent horizon or the event horizon. The universe is chosen to be homogeneous and isotropic FRW model and the validity of the first law has been assumed here

Objective and subjective measures of physical functioning in women with fibromyalgia: what type of measure is associated most clearly with subjective well-being?

To find modifiable factors that are related to subjective well-being would be valuable for improving interventions in fibromyalgia. Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness may represent potential areas to optimize treatment regimens. In fibromyalgia, there is a discordance between clinical observations and patient-reported outcomes (objective and subjective assessments). Therefore, the present study aims at analyzing the associations of objective and subjective evaluations of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness with subjective well-being and determine if and how objective and subjective associations differ In the most conservative multivariate analysis, we found independent associations of the objective measures of physical activity with positive affect and life satisfaction and sedentary behaviour with positive affect. No such relationship was seen with subjective measures of the same behaviours. Moreover, we observed that objective and subjective physical fitness evaluations were independent of each other related to subjective well-being. Independent associations of the objectivemeasures (but not the subjective assessments) of physical activity with positive affect and life satisfaction, and of sedentary behaviour with positive affect were observed. However, objective measures and subjective appraisals of physical fitness appear to be independently related to well-being,which should be consideredwhen developing physical exercise interventions for fibromyalgiaThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [I+D+i DEP2010-15639, I+D+I DEP2013- 40908, and BES-2014–067612]; the Spanish Ministry of Education [FPU15/00002]. This study has been partially funded by the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigación 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), and by the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ref. SOMM17/6107/ UGR. This research was supported (in part) by the Intramural Research program of the NIH, National Institute of Nursing Research

Different modes of interaction by TIAR and HuR with target RNA and DNA

TIAR and HuR are mRNA-binding proteins that play important roles in the regulation of translation. They both possess three RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) and bind to AU-rich elements (AREs), with seemingly overlapping specificity. Here we show using SPR that TIAR and HuR bind to both U-rich and AU-rich RNA in the nanomolar range, with higher overall affinity for U-rich RNA. However, the higher affinity for U–rich sequences is mainly due to faster association with U-rich RNA, which we propose is a reflection of the higher probability of association. Differences between TIAR and HuR are observed in their modes of binding to RNA. TIAR is able to bind deoxy-oligonucleotides with nanomolar affinity, whereas HuR affinity is reduced to a micromolar level. Studies with U-rich DNA reveal that TIAR binding depends less on the 2′-hydroxyl group of RNA than HuR binding. Finally we show that SAXS data, recorded for the first two domains of TIAR in complex with RNA, are more consistent with a flexible, elongated shape and not the compact shape that the first two domains of Hu proteins adopt upon binding to RNA. We thus propose that these triple-RRM proteins, which compete for the same binding sites in cells, interact with their targets in fundamentally different ways

Coupled dark energy: Towards a general description of the dynamics

In dark energy models of scalar-field coupled to a barotropic perfect fluid, the existence of cosmological scaling solutions restricts the Lagrangian of the field \vp to p=X g(Xe^{\lambda \vp}), where X=-g^{\mu\nu} \partial_\mu \vp \partial_\nu \vp /2, $\lambda$ is a constant and $g$ is an arbitrary function. We derive general evolution equations in an autonomous form for this Lagrangian and investigate the stability of fixed points for several different dark energy models--(i) ordinary (phantom) field, (ii) dilatonic ghost condensate, and (iii) (phantom) tachyon. We find the existence of scalar-field dominant fixed points (\Omega_\vp=1) with an accelerated expansion in all models irrespective of the presence of the coupling $Q$ between dark energy and dark matter. These fixed points are always classically stable for a phantom field, implying that the universe is eventually dominated by the energy density of a scalar field if phantom is responsible for dark energy. When the equation of state w_\vp for the field \vp is larger than -1, we find that scaling solutions are stable if the scalar-field dominant solution is unstable, and vice versa. Therefore in this case the final attractor is either a scaling solution with constant \Omega_\vp satisfying 0<\Omega_\vp<1 or a scalar-field dominant solution with \Omega_\vp=1.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures; minor clarifications added, typos corrected and references updated; final version to appear in JCA

Rare single gene disorders:estimating baseline prevalence and outcomes worldwide

As child mortality rates overall are decreasing, non-communicable conditions, such as genetic disorders, constitute an increasing proportion of child mortality, morbidity and disability. To date, policy and public health programmes have focused on common genetic disorders. Rare single gene disorders are an important source of morbidity and premature mortality for affected families. When considered collectively, they account for an important public health burden, which is frequently under-recognised. To document the collective frequency and health burden of rare single gene disorders, it is necessary to aggregate them into large manageable groupings and take account of their family implications, effective interventions and service needs. Here, we present an approach to estimate the burden of these conditions up to 5 years of age in settings without empirical data. This approaches uses population-level demographic data, combined with assumptions based on empirical data from settings with data available, to provide population-level estimates which programmes and policy-makers when planning services can use