Autonomía, dependencia y vulnerabilidad en la construcción de la ciudadanía

En las sociedades occidentales modernas, la condición ciudadana sigue vinculada a una noción de individuo independiente, autosuficiente, ligado a la posesión de propiedades y otros recursos materiales. Sin embargo, esta idea de ciudadanía olvida que todos los seres humanos somos interdependientes, que la dependencia es consustancial a la existencia humana, aunque se manifieste con especial contundencia en algunos momentos de nuestras vidas, como los inicios y los finales del ciclo vital, o cuando enfermamos o desfallecemos. Desde esta consideración, se cuestiona también la noción de dependencia a la luz de los planteamientos sobre la ‘diversidad funcional’, de la construcción normativa de la salud y la enfermedad, así como desde la perspectiva feminista del care, y se invita a reflexionar en torno a un modelo de ciudadanía que incorpore las interdependencias, la fragilidad y la vulnerabilidad propias de todo ser humano

Hidrógeno electrolítico para la gestión de la red eléctrica

La variabilidad de la demanda a lo largo de las horas del día y las estaciones del año, junto a la generación aleatoria de la mayoría de las fuentes de energía renovable, sitúan al sistema eléctrico ante un nuevo y fascinante paradigma; ello resulta especialmente relevante en redes relativamente aisladas y con una notable penetración de los parques eólicos, como sucede actualmente en España. La figura 1 muestra una curva típica, con dos puntas que reflejan sobretodo las necesidades de climatización durante las horas cálidas del estío e iluminación en los días cortos del invierno

Variation in the synthesis of microcystin in response to saline and osmotic stress in Microcystis ruginosa PCC7806

The growth and synthesis of microcystin in Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7806 was studied in cells grown in the presence of NaCl or with sucrose. The saline stress caused a decrease in the transcript levels of mcyD, one of the genes involved in microcystin synthesis, which was correlated with a decrease in the content of microcystin-LR in the cells. The cells treated with sucrose also had reduced levels of mcyD transcripts and contents of microcystin-LR

The WaveDriving Course

In the last ten years our knowledge about the formation of traffic jams has changed substantially, so that the idea of »phantom traffic jam» could soon seem naive to us. But transforming traffic flows and eliminating traffic jams requires that each individual driver (human or non-human) understands their role in traffic flows, the genesis of traffic jams, and how to behave to avoid them. Based on previous studies we have termed this adaptive, anti-jam behavior Wavedriving. This paper presents the design and structure of an online WaveDriving course (WDC) conceived to teach to avoid traffic jams, as well as its first pilot tests. Although some improvements have been identified after the pilots, the preliminary results confirm that the WDC manages to transform car-following behavior of participants, from ordinary drivers to WaveDrivers

Estimation of total biomass in Aleppo pine forest stands applying parametric and nonparametric methods to low-density airborne laser scanning data

The account of total biomass can assist with the evaluation of climate regulation policies from local to global scales. This study estimates total biomass (TB), including tree and shrub biomass fractions, in Pinus halepensis Miller forest stands located in the Aragon Region (Spain) using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data and fieldwork. A comparison of five selection methods and five regression models was performed to relate the TB, estimated in 83 field plots through allometric equations, to several independent variables extracted from ALS point cloud. A height threshold was used to include returns above 0.2 m when calculating ALS variables. The sample was divided into training and test sets composed of 62 and 21 plots, respectively. The model with the lower root mean square error (15.14 tons/ha) after validation was the multiple linear regression model including three ALS variables: the 25th percentile of the return heights, the variance, and the percentage of first returns above the mean. This study confirms the usefulness of low-density ALS data to accurately estimate total biomass, and thus better assess the availability of biomass and carbon content in a Mediterranean Aleppo pine forest

Folding of cytosine-based nucleolipid monolayer by guanine recognition at the air-water interface

Monolayers of a cytosine-based nucleolipid (1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-(cytidine diphosphate) (ammonium salt), CDP-DG) at basic subphase have been prepared at the air-water interface both in absence and presence of guanine. The formation of the complementary base pairing is demonstrated by combining surface experimental techniques, i.e., surface pressure (π)–area (A), Brewster angle microscopy (BAM), infrared spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) and computer simulations. A folding of the cytosine-based nucleolipid molecules forming monolayer at the air-water interface occurs during the guanine recognition as absorbate host and is kept during several compression-expansion processes under set experimental conditions. The specificity between nitrogenous bases has been also registered. Finally, mixed monolayers of CDP-DG and a phospholipid (1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate (sodium salt), DMPA) has been studied and a molecular segregation of the DMPA molecules has been inferred by the additivity rule

Surface-Active Fluorinated Quantum Dots for Enhanced Cellular Uptake

Fluorescent nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, hold great potential for biomedical applications, mainly sensing and bioimaging. However, the inefficient cell uptake of some nanoparticles hampers their application in clinical practice. Here, the effect of the modification of the quantum dot surface with fluorinated ligands to increase their surface activity and, thus, enhance their cellular uptake was explored