Los tribunales castellanos en los siglos XVI y XVII.

Sin resume

Leveling Up Hydrogels:Hybrid Systems in Tissue Engineering

Hydrogels can mimic several features of the cell native microenvironment and have been widely used as synthetic extracellular matrices (ECMs) in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). However, some applications have specifications that hydrogels cannot efficiently fulfill on their own. Incorporating reinforcing structures like fibrous scaffolds or particles into hydrogels, as hybrid systems, is a promising strategy to improve their functionality. We describe recent advances in the fabrication and application of these hybrid systems, where structural properties and stimuli responsiveness of hydrogels are enhanced while their ECM-like features are preserved. Furthermore, we discuss how these systems can contribute to the development of more complex tissue engineered structures in the rapidly evolving field of TERM

Technologies for Data-Driven Interventions in Smart Learning Environments [Editorial]

Smart Learning environments (SLEs) are defined [1] as learning ecologies where students engage in learning activities, or where teachers facilitate such activities with the support of tools and technology. SLEs can encompass physical or virtual spaces in which a system senses the learning context and process by collecting data, analyzes the data, and consequently reacts with customized interventions that aim at improving learning [1]. In this way, SLEs may collect data about learners and educators’ actions and interactions related to their participation in learning activities as well as about different aspects of the formal or informal context in which they can be carried out. Sources from these data may include learning management systems, handheld devices, computers, cameras, microphones, wearables, and environmental sensors. These data can then be transformed and analyzed using different computational and visualization techniques to obtain actionable information that can trigger a wide range of automatic, human-mediated, or hybrid interventions, which involve learners and teachers in the decision making behind the interventions.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through Smartlet and the H2OLearn Projects under Grant MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and in part by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) under Grant TIN2017-85179-C3-1-R, Grant TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R, Grant TIN2017-85179-C3-30R, Grant PID2020-112584RB-C31, Grant PID2020-112584RB C32, and Grant GPID2020-112584RB-C33. The work of Davinia Hernández-Leo (Serra Húnter) was supported by ICREA through the ICREA Academia Program.Publicad

Piccolo modulation of Synapsin1a dynamics regulates synaptic vesicle exocytosis

Active zones are specialized regions of the presynaptic plasma membrane designed for the efficient and repetitive release of neurotransmitter via synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis. Piccolo is a high molecular weight component of the active zone that is hypothesized to participate both in active zone formation and the scaffolding of key molecules involved in SV recycling. In this study, we use interference RNAs to eliminate Piccolo expression from cultured hippocampal neurons to assess its involvement in synapse formation and function. Our data show that Piccolo is not required for glutamatergic synapse formation but does influence presynaptic function by negatively regulating SV exocytosis. Mechanistically, this regulation appears to be calmodulin kinase II–dependent and mediated through the modulation of Synapsin1a dynamics. This function is not shared by the highly homologous protein Bassoon, which indicates that Piccolo has a unique role in coupling the mobilization of SVs in the reserve pool to events within the active zone

Correction: Biofunctionalized pectin hydrogels as 3D cellular microenvironments

Correction for 'Biofunctionalized pectin hydrogels as 3D cellular microenvironments' by Sara C. Neves et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015, 3, 2096–2108

Hybrid gels: influence of water and oil phase on textural and rheological properties

The 19th Gums & Stabilisers for the Food Industry Conference: Hydrocolloid MultifunctionalityHybrid gels are biphasic systems formed by conjugating hydrogels and oleogels. The mixture of water-based and oil-based gels provides distinct and unique characteristics to hybrid gels, and based on the structurant molecules and mixture ratio used during their production, different textural and rheological properties can be obtained. Hybrid gels remain a very recent topic concerning pharmaceutical and food applications and despite recent studies on the use of hybrid gels for controlled delivery of compounds (pharmaceutical applications) these structures are still under-studied in regard to their food application possibilities [1, 2]. To improve knowledge and expanding ways to use these systems, it is important to understand how these gels behave regarding textural and rheological properties. Also, the knowledge on their micro and nanostructure allows tailoring their properties and thus maximizing their applicability in foodstuffs. We report on how the combination of a beeswaxbased oleogel and a sodium alginate-based hydrogel influences the gel structural properties at macroscopic (rheological and textural), microscopic (optical microscopy) and molecular (Xray diffraction) levels. Different ratios of both hydrogel and oleogel were used in order to evaluate the hybrid gels’ behaviour in terms of morphological, textural, rheological and polymorphic properties. Differences regarding oleogel particles distribution in the hydrogel matrix were noticed with the increase of oleogel fraction. A more disarranged distribution of oleogel particles was observable for the 50:50 ratios of hydrogel and oleogel. X-ray diffraction data unveiled that once polycrystallinity is reached (in hybrid gels) these patterns remain persistent for all tested ratios. Oleogel showed d-spacings in the range of 3.74 to 8.04 Å. Hybrid gel samples (and hydrogel control) are semi-crystalline, displaying spacings ranging in intervals of d (001) 6.99 – 7.18 Å; d (002) 3.09 – 3.23 Å and d (003) 2.45 – 2.46 Å, respectively. The samples with increasing oleogel ratio revealed a firmness decrease and a consequent reduction of spreadability values. Consequently, is observed less adhesivity for these samples, due to a more pronounced disaggregated structure. For all hybrid gels a gellike behaviour (G´ > G´´) was observed. Results showed that it is possible to modify the hybrid gels’ rheological and textural behaviour by a controlled mixture ratio of oleogels and hydrogels. This opens the possibilities of food applications for this kind of systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

From Fundamental Strings to Small Black Holes

We give evidence in favour of a string/black hole transition in the case of BPS fundamental string states of the Heterotic string. Our analysis goes beyond the counting of degrees of freedom and considers the evolution of dynamical quantities in the process. As the coupling increases, the string states decrease their size up to the string scale when a small black hole is formed. We compute the absorption cross section for several fields in both the black hole and the perturbative string phases. At zero frequency, these cross sections can be seen as order parameters for the transition. In particular, for the scalars fixed at the horizon the cross section evolves to zero when the black hole is formed.Comment: 36 pages, 4 figures, argument about minimally coupled scalar absorption cross section clarifie

Combining SfM Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Assess Event-Scale Sediment Budgets along a Gravel-Bed Ephemeral Stream

[EN] Stream power represents the rate of energy expenditure along a stream reach and can be calculated using topographic data acquired via structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). This study sought to quantitatively relate morphological adjustments in the Azohia Rambla, a gravel-bed ephemeral stream in southeastern Spain, to stream power (omega), critical power (omega(c)), and energy gradients ( partial differential omega/ partial differential s), along different reference channel reaches of 200 to 300 m in length. High-resolution digital terrain models (HRDTMs), combined with ortophotographs and point clouds from 2018, 2019, and 2020, and ground-based surveys, were used to estimate the spatial variability of morphological sediment budgets and to assess channel bed mobility during the study period at different spatial scales: reference channel reaches (RCRs), pilot bed survey areas (PBSAs), and representative geomorphic units (RGUs). The optimized complementary role of the SfM technique and terrestrial laser scanning allowed the generation of accurate and reliable HRDTMs, upon which a 1-D hydrodynamic model was calibrated and sediment budgets calculated. The resulting high-resolution maps allowed a spatially explicit analysis of stream power and transport efficiency in relation to volumes of erosion and deposition in the RCR and PBSA. In addition, net incision or downcutting and vertical sedimentary accretion were monitored for each flood event in relation to bedforms and hydraulic variables. Sediment sources and sinks and bed armoring processes showed different trends according to the critical energy and stream power gradient, which were verified from field observations. During flows exceeding bankfull discharges (between 18 and 24 m(3) s(-1) according to channel reach), significant variations in partial differential omega/ partial differential s values and omega/omega(c) ratios (e.g., -15 2 for a peak discharge of 31 m(3) s(-1)) were associated with a large amount of bedload mobilized upstream and vertical accretion along the middle reach (average rise height of 0.20 to 0.35 m for the same event). By contrast, more moderate peak flows (<= 10 m(3) s(-1)) only produced minor changes resulting in surface washing, selective transport, and local bed scouring.This research was funded by ERDF/Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities-State Research Agency/Project CGL2017-84625-C2-1-R (CCAMICEM); State Program for Research, Development and Innovation Focused on the Challenges of Society, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and EU FEDER under Project TEC2017-85244-C2-1-P and by the University of Alicante (vigrob-157 and GRE18-05).Conesa-García, C.; Puig-Mengual, C.; Riquelme, A.; Tomás, R.; Martinez-Capel, F.; García-Lorenzo, R.; Pastor, JL.... (2020). Combining SfM Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Assess Event-Scale Sediment Budgets along a Gravel-Bed Ephemeral Stream. Remote Sensing. 12(21):1-27. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12213624S127122