Letter to Raul Lino : cultural identity in Portuguese architecture : the 'Inquerito' and the architecture of its protagonists in the 1960s

Cultural identity is an issue that has concerned Portuguese artistic thought in asubliminal way ever since the end of the XIX century, with influences in architecture.Raul Lino, at the beginning of the last Century, was one of those who tried in aconscious manner, to tackle this problem both at the practical and theoretical level.Nevertheless, he never lived to see the real meaning of his proposal fully understood,not even after the retrospective of his work in the 1970 Exhibition in Lisbon.The intention behind this "Letter" is to give continuity to the perspective firstformulated by him, starting from the analysis of one of the most significantaccomplishments in the history of the Portuguese architecture, the INQUERITO intovernacular architecture.Having guaranteed the importance of cultural identity versus architecture as the drivingforce of the research, via the testimonies given by a host of relevant personalities inPortuguese cultural life, and evaluated the antecedents and convergences of the identityissue, the research field was defined as well as the methodology. This is based on aqualitative model which rendered the investigation viable, enabling the echoes of theINQUERITO to be appreciated in the architecture of the 1960s.The INQUERITO is therefore the subject of analysis and evaluation, as an instrument ofresearch into the unique Portuguese vernacular architecture. The erudite architecture ofits "protagonists" is also evaluated using similar criteria to assess the concerns withidentity issue, mostly of a qualitative nature, as a corollary to the sensitivity side of thesame issue.Finally, the importance of the identity perspective gave rise to an attempt at projectingthe findings onto the teaching of architecture, so as to improve on the necessaryhumanization of relationships between real places and all their actors

Application of lithotopo units for automatic classification of rivers: Concept, development and validation

River classification is one of the recommendations of the European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, which establishes that classifications should be carried out according to different variables hierarchically organized from a smaller to a larger scale. We suggest incorporating into the Directive’s hierarchical system a geoecological unit (lithotopo unit) that discriminates rivers with similar geomorphological features and ecological funtionality. The lithotopo units are not an alternative to the Directive typology, they are a complement intended to improve it. Our method is divided into two stages, the first focused on the development of LTUs and the second on their validation. We applied the concept of lithotopo units to a 30,000 km2 region in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) using a Geographic Information System and field work. Seven kinds of lithotopo units were identified for the study area, each with its own geomorphological processes and dynamics, and, as a consequence, particular associated habitats. Cartographic validation was done through the analysis of 122 sample sites distributed in eight basins. Of the five validation variables originally employed, specific stream power and median grain size are the two that yielded the best results. Each kind of lithotopo unit displays a range of values of specific stream power and median grain size that is internally homogeneous but different from that of the other units. The methodology thus produced, which can be applied to other regions, is transparent, objective and quantitative.Corresponding author was funded by Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria da Xunta de Galicia (award name: Plan Gallego de Investigación, Innovación y Crecimiento 2011–2015 -Plan 2C-).S

Genome sequence of Pantoea ananatis strain amg 501, a plant growth-promoting bacterium isolated from rice leaves grown in paddies of southern spain.

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Genome sequence of Pantoea sp. strain 1.19, isolated from rice rhizosphere, with the capacity to promote growth of legumes and nonlegumes.

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Automatic design of fuzzy control systems for autonomous mobile robots

This paper describes the design and implementation of a fuzzy controller for autonomous mobile robots. The tool Xfuzzy 3.0, developed at the IMSE (Instituto de Microelectrónica de Sevilla) has been used to design a controller for the Romeo 4R autonomous vehicle designed and built at the "Escuela Superior de Ingenieros", University of Seville. The paper presents the design of the controller and real experiments with Romeo 4R demonstrating the efficiency of the controller.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TAP99-0926-C04-01 y TIC2001-172

Coexistence of Two Rare Sarcomas: Primary Leiomyosarcoma of Bone and Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma of the Liver

A 33-year-old woman sought medical attention for a painful swelling of the left ankle. Plain radiographs revealed an osteolytic lesion involving the left distal tibia. An excisional biopsy provided the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma in the tibia. A staging work-up was performed and an abdominal CT showed 4 liver hypodense lesions in both lobes with peripheral contrast enhancement. A liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver. No association between these two entities has been described before. This case introduces the importance of the pathological confirmation of apparent metastatic lesions in low grade sarcomas and provides a review of the literature of both tumours

Trophic consequences of introduced species: comparative impacts of increased inter-specific versus intra-specific competitive interactions

1. Invasive species can cause substantial ecological impacts on native biodiversity. Whilst ecological theory attempts to explain the processes involved in the trophic integration of invaders into native food webs and their competitive impacts on resident species, results are equivocal. In addition, quantifying the relative strength of impacts from non-native species (inter-specific competition) versus the release of native conspecifics (intra-specific competition) is important but rarely completed. 2. Two model non-native fishes, the globally invasive Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus, and the model native fish Tinca tinca, were used in a pond experiment to test how increased intra- and inter-specific competition influenced trophic niches and somatic growth rates. This was complemented by samples collected from three natural fish communities where the model fishes were present. The isotopic niche, calculated using stable isotope data, represented the trophic niche. 3. The pond experiment used additive and substitutive treatments to quantify the trophic niche variation that resulted from intra- and inter-specific competitive interactions. Although the trophic niche sizes of the model species were not significantly altered by any competitive treatment, they all resulted in patterns of inter-specific niche divergence. Increased inter-specific competition caused the trophic niche of T. tinca to shift to a significantly higher trophic position, whereas intra-specific competition caused its position to shift towards elevated 13C. These patterns were independent of impacts on fish growth rates, which were only significantly altered when inter-specific competition was elevated. 4. In the natural fish communities, patterns of trophic niche partitioning between the model fishes was evident, with no niche sharing. Comparison of these results with those of the experiment revealed the most similar results between the two approaches were for the niche partitioning between sympatric T. tinca and C. carpio. 5. These results indicate that trophic niche divergence facilitates the integration of introduced species into food webs, but there are differences in how this manifests between introductions that increase inter- and intra-specific competition. In entirety, these results suggest that the initial ecological response to an introduction appears to be a trophic re-organisation of the food web that minimises the trophic interactions between competing species

NrcR, a new transcriptional regulator of Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 involved in the Legume root-nodule symbiosis.

The establishment of nitrogen-fixing rhizobium-legume symbioses requires a highly complex cascade of events. In this molecular dialogue the bacterial NodD transcriptional regulators in conjunction with plant inducers, mostly flavonoids, are responsible for the biosynthesis and secretion of Nod factors which are key molecules for successful nodulation. Other transcriptional regulators related to the symbiotic process have been identified in rhizobial genomes, including negative regulators such as NolR. Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 is an important symbiont of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and its genome encompasses intriguing features such as five copies of nodD genes, as well as other possible transcriptional regulators including the NolR protein. Here we describe and characterize a new regulatory gene located in the non-symbiotic plasmid pRtrCIAT899c, that shows homology (46% identity) with the nolR gene located in the chromosome of CIAT 899. The mutation of this gene, named nrcR (nolR-like plasmid c Regulator), enhanced motility and exopolysaccharide production in comparison to the wild-type strain. Interestingly, the number and decoration of Nod Factors produced by this mutant were higher than those detected in the wildtype strain, especially under salinity stress. The nrcR mutant showed delayed nodulation and reduced competitiveness with P. vulgaris, and reduction in nodule number and shoot dry weight in both P. vulgaris and Leucaena leucocephala. Moreover, the mutant exhibited reduced capacity to induce the nodC gene in comparison to the wild-type CIAT 899. The finding of a new nod-gene regulator located in a non-symbiotic plasmid may reveal the existence of even more complex mechanisms of regulation of nodulation genes in R. tropici CIAT 899 that may be applicable to other rhizobial species

Predicción de la potencialidad de los bosques esclerófilos españoles mediante redes neuronales artificiales

Holm oak and cork oak forests are between the most important sclerophyllous formations in the Mediterranean Iberia. In order to study their potentiality, an artificial neural network model, with a feedforward BP algorithm, has been applied. The elevation, continentality, insolation, annual rainfall, annual mean temperature, mean temperature of the coldest month and mean temperature of the warmest month are the used bioclimatic variables with a 10 km resolution. The neural networks seem a highly predictive powerful tool. Different patterns in the response of the studied forests have been shown. The holm oak presents a continuous and wide potential simulate range. Meanwhile the cork oak potential area is fragmented and restricted, in accordance with its actual distribution area. The lack of both forests in the eastern and southern warm zones of Iberian Peninsula is the main discrepancy with previous potential vegetation proposals.Encinares y alcornocales son dos de las formaciones esclerófilas más importantes de la Iberia mediterránea. Para conocer cual es su potencialidad en el territorio español se ha empleado un modelo generado mediante redes neuronales artificiales con un algoritmo de retropropagación de errores que conduce la información siempre hacia delante. Las variables bioclimáticas empleadas como predictores son: altitud, continentalidad, insolación, precipitación total, temperatura media anual, temperatura media de las mínimas del mes más frío y temperatura media de las máximas del mes más cálido, con una resolución de 10 km. Las redes neuronales se perfilan como una herramienta de gran poder predictivo. Se aprecian patrones de respuesta diferente para las formaciones estudiadas. Mientras que para la encina se simula un área potencial continua y extensa, para el alcornoque se obtiene un área fragmentada y restringida, que se ajusta bastante a su presencia actual. La principal discrepancia del modelo presentado con esquemas de vegetación potencial anteriores radica en la ausencia de encinares y alcornocales en zonas térmicas del Levante y sur peninsular