Biotechnological approaches to control the crop pathogen Fusarium and development of nanotechnology-based diagnostic methods for detection of plant diseases.

Seminario de experto en el tema de Biotecnología de PlantasThe plant fungal pathogen Fusarium is the causal agent of ‘Fusarium wilt’ and results in large losses on a wide range of crops including vegetables, flowers, trees and field crops. Control methods for Fusarium wilt are very limited. Crop rotations are ineffective because F. oxysporum has such a large host range and is able to survive in the soil for long periods of time and genetic resistance is very scarce or on-existent in many crops. I will describe the development of two biotechnological approaches to produce fusarium resistant plants, one of which has produced 100% resistance. I will also present the development of nanotechnology-based diagnostic methods that can be coupled with DNA electrode recognition technology to detect and identify over 100,000 different pathogens in a single diagnostic test.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Study of a hot asphalt mixture response based on energy concepts

The main objective of the research reported in this paper is to determine the response of a hot mix asphalt (HMA) in terms of both the tensile strength and energy parameters (based on the assessment of the force-displacement curve) as potential tools for improving the HMA mixture design. The HMAs analyzed were fabricated using a 60-70 penetration asphalt binder, dense-graded aggregate, mineral filler, and different types and contents of mineral filler replacements (i.e., lime, cement, and fly ash). The indirect tensile test was conducted to determine both the HMA tensile strength and force-displacement curve, which allowed for the computation of the HMA toughness as well as the energies involved in the process before and after reaching the tensile strength. Corresponding results suggest that the replacement of mineral filler by cement, lime, and fly ash modified the HMA response in terms of both the tensile strength and energy parameters. In addition, analysis of the energy parameters discussed proved to be useful for determining the optimum mineral filler content of HMA. Consequently, analysis of these energy parameters can benefit the HMA mixture design process. // El objetivo principal de la investigación fue determinar el comportamiento de una mezcla asfáltica en función de la resistencia a la tracción indirecta y parámetros de energía (calculados en función de la curva fuerza-desplazamiento) como herramientas potenciales para mejorar el diseño de mezclas asfálticas. Las mezclas asfálticas analizadas fueron fabricadas con asfalto de penetración 60/70, granulometría cerrada md10 y relleno mineral en diferentes porcentajes y materiales (cal, cemento y ceniza volante). El ensayo de tracción indirecta se utilizó para determinar la resistencia máxima a la tracción y la curva fuerza-desplazamiento, a partir de la cual se calcularon la tenacidad de la mezcla y las energías involucradas en el proceso antes y después de alcanzar la resistencia máxima. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que reemplazar el relleno mineral por cemento, cal o ceniza volante modifica el comportamiento de la mezcla asfáltica en términos de la resistencia a la tracción y los parámetros de energía. Adicionalmente, el análisis de los parámetros de energía discutidos es útil para establecer el contenido óptimo del relleno mineral. En consecuencia, el análisis de estos parámetros de energía puede beneficiar el proceso de diseño de mezclas asfálticas.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Obtaining the fatigue laws of bituminous mixtures from a strain sweep test: effect of temperature and aging

Fatigue is associated with the deterioration caused by applying repeated loads, and is affected by temperature or aging. Generally, time sweep tests are used to simulate fatigue, in order to obtain the fatigue laws. However, this requires too much time, often preventing its use. A method to estimate the fatigue laws from a strain sweep test is presented. The test was performed on a semi-dense mixture with different types of binder (unconditioned or aged) tested at different temperatures. This test is able to estimate fatigue laws more quickly, allowing the effect of different factors on the mixtures' fatigue life to be studied.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Estimating the fatigue law of asphalt mixtures using a strain sweep test (EBADE test)

Fatigue characterization of asphalt mixtures is a very important issue. However, existing techniques to that end are expensive and time consuming. For that reason the asphalt technicians have been studying several different methods to reduce the testing time needed. Such is the case of the Visco-Elastic Continuum Damage models. In that regard, this paper presents the efforts carried out by the Road Research Laboratory at the UPC-BarcelonaTech to reduce that testing time, by implementing a strain sweep test and approximating the fatigue law of the material from the data obtained. The EBADE test was applied to four mixtures for which the conventional fatigue laws were obtained using time sweep tests. The data collected was used to fit a fatigue model based on two strain values that can be directly computed from the EBADE test, namely Failure strain and No Damage strain. A good correlation was found between the model proposed and the experimental data.Postprint (published version

El barrido de deformaciones como método para evaluar el comportamiento a fatiga de los materiales bituminosos

El comportamiento a fatiga de las mezclas bituminosas es de vital importancia para el diseño de pavimentos. Como componente que cohesiona la mezcla, el ligante hidrocarbonado influye fuertemente en esta propiedad de la mezcla. Por ello es necesario estudiar el comportamiento a fatiga de este material. Clásicamente las propiedades de los ligantes en condiciones de fatiga han sido estudiadas mediante la obtención de la ley de fatiga del material. Para ello son necesarios numerosos ensayos cíclicos a amplitud de deformación o carga constante, denominados barridos de tiempo. Este tipo de ensayos son largos y costosos. Esta tesis doctoral presenta un nuevo procedimiento de ensayo que pretende caracterizar el comportamiento a fatiga de ligantes con menor número de ensayos y de menor duración. El nuevo procedimiento se basa en aplicar ensayos cíclicos de amplitud de deformación ascendente. Este tipo de ensayos son conocidos como barridos de deformaciones y por ello, el nuevo procedimientos se nombró EBADE (Ensayo de BArrido de DEformaciones). Previo a un procedimiento inicial de calibración el EBADE ha sido empleado para caracterizar el comportamiento a fatiga de varios ligantes y se ha demostrado que los resultados obtenidos mediante este ensayo están relacionados con la ley de fatiga del material, cuya obtención implica un consumo de tiempo muy superior. Así mismo, se ha demostrado que la pérdida de módulo experimentada por el ligante durante los ensayos cíclicos es, en su mayor parte, debida a la tixotropía del material y no a un proceso de daño irreversible. Como aportación final, se propone el empleo de dos parámetros obtenidos en los ensayos EBADE, el módulo inicial y la deformación de fallo, como parámetros característicos del comportamiento de los ligantes bituminosos a fatiga, en substitución de las leyes de fatiga obtenidas por medio de los ensayos de barrido de tiempo.The fatigue behavior of bituminous mixtures plays a major role in pavement design. The asphalt binder has a strong influence in that property and because of that it is necessary to study its fatigue behavior. Typically the fatigue properties of binders have been studied by obtaining the fatigue law of the material. This requires several cyclic tests at constant strain or stress amplitude, called time sweep tests. Such tests are long and expensive. This thesis presents a new test procedure that aims to characterize the fatigue behavior of binders with fewer and shorter tests. The new procedure is based on applying increasing strain amplitude cyclic tests. The test was called EBADE, standing for strain sweep tests in Spanish. Prior to an initial calibration procedure, the EBADE has been used to characterize the fatigue behavior of several binders and demonstrated that the results obtained by this test are related to the fatigue law of the material, which calculation involves several time consuming tests. In addition, it has been proven that modulus loss experienced by the binder during cyclic testing is mostly due to the thixotropy of the material and not to a process of irreversible damage. As a final remark, two parameters obtained in the EBADE tests, initial modulus and failure strain, are proposed to characterize the fatigue behavior of asphalt binders, instead of the fatigue laws obtained by means of the time sweep tests

Effect of filler nature and content on the bituminous mastic behaviour under cyclic loads

The role of the filler in asphalt mixtures is particularly important because of its influence on mastic behaviour. The filler improves the resistance properties of bitumen against the action of traffic loads and temperature. However, the filler can also adversely affect bitumen in mastics excessively brittle and stiff due to inappropriate design. For these reasons, it is interesting to investigate the effect of filler type and content on mastic composition. This paper presents results from a strain sweep test applied to bituminous mastics prepared with different filler types and contents at several temperatures. The obtained stiffness modulus and failure strain results provide information to assess the fatigue behaviour of the analysed mastics.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Complexity of the behaviour of asphalt materials in cyclic testing

This paper compares the results obtained in two types of cyclic tension-compression tests, a time sweep test, constant strain amplitude, and a strain sweep test, increasing strain amplitude every 5000 cycles, called EBADE (standing for the Spanish words for strain sweep test). This comparison has shown that the rapid loss of stiffness during the initial part of cyclic testing is recoverable in bituminous materials. It has been found that reversible phenomena dominate in asphalt binders, while in mixtures are as important as damage. A damage equation has been proposed to describe the evolution of the material distress during the phase II in time sweep tests. In addition, a new methodology to estimate the fatigue law of bituminous mixtures is proposed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Zoonotic parasite infection from a funerary context: A Late Antique child case from Cantabrian Spain

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version at doi:10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.03.003Objective: To evaluate the presence of Dicrocoelium sp. in a child from a Late Antique funerary context from Cantabrian Spain and discuss whether the infection is true infection or pseudoparasitosis. Materials: Four skeletons, including one from a 5–7 year old child, have been analysed from the archaeological site of El Convent ́on, dated between the sixth and seventh centuries AD. Methods: The paleoparasitological study was conducted through the analysis of soil samples from different parts of the skeleton and funerary context using the rehydration, homogenization, and micro-sieving method, and visualized through brightfield microscopy. Results: A soil sample from the pelvic region tested positive for Dicrocoelium sp. (possibly D. dendriticum). Conclusions: The child was infected with Dicrocoelium dendriticum, which based on archaeological and historical contexts may be related to hygiene or dietary behaviour. Significance: We present one of the few cases of the identification of a Dicrocoelidae parasite directly associated with a human skeleton that provides historical knowledge of a zoonotic disease. Limitations: The diagnosis of a zoonosis through the identification of ancient parasites is complex. In addition, Dicrocoelium sp. in association with skeletal human remains is rare due to the potential low prevalence of this parasite. Suggestions for Further Research: Highlight the importance of paleoparasitological analysis to link parasitic infection diseases with socioeconomic issues by using funerary contexts with skeletal remains.European Union’s Horizon 2020 the Marie Skłodowska-Curie TRAUMOBITA 89571

Approaching intertextuality on entertainment software. Case study of Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded

Los textos audiovisuales suelen recurrir a menudo al uso de la intertextualidad, en ocasiones con una finalidad humorística, otras a modo de homenaje o evocación del recuerdo, entre muchas otras funciones. La intertextualidad audiovisual da lugar a un sinfín de posibilidades que solemos encontrar al darse cruces de personajes y elementos de producciones previas, contemporáneas o incluso futuras. Este fenómeno se observa constantemente en los videojuegos, en los que se producen transvases culturales de todo tipo. En este artículo nos acercaremos al juego Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, fuente de abundantes referencias, para estudiar las características del intertexto videolúdico presente en él. Mediante el estudio de ejemplos que contengan referencias intertextuales y apoyados en análisis descriptivos previos propios y ajenos, estudiaremos sus características y particularidades. De esta manera, podremos ver las diferencias con la intertextualidad audiovisual y la literaria y descubriremos cómo se articulan las fases de su proceso de traducción.Intertextuality is a common element in every audiovisual media. Sometimes it is used in a comical way, but it can also be used as a tribute or with the objective of recalling a memory, among others. Audiovisual intertextuality opens up an unlimited number of possibilities thanks to the crossover of characters and elements from other past, contemporary or even future works. This phenomenon is a constant in videogames, where we can find several kinds of cultural transfer. In this paper, we will analyze the videogame Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, as it has many references and it is a good case study to see which are the main characteristics of intertextuality in entertainment software. We will take several examples with intertextual references and, using previous descriptive analysis, we will study their main characteristics and their distinctive features. This way, we will be able to see the differences with intertextuality in audiovisual and literary works, and we will find out in which way the translation process is different from one media to another

Influence of vulnerability factors in panic disorder severity

Background: We studied herein the predictive value for panic severity of three well-based vulnerability factors: personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion; NEO-PI-R), anxiety sensitivity (ASI), and perceived control (ACQ-R). Method: The sample was composed of 52 participants diagnosed with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. Results: Our results revealed that the anxiety facet is a better predictor of panic severity than neuroticism. Anxiety sensitivity increases the predictive value for panic severity and, finally, perception of control of emotions is the only perception control subscale that increases the predictive value for panic severity more than the anxiety facet and anxiety sensitivity. Conclusions: This finding supports the assumption of the importance of taking into account the assessment of the lower order dimensions of the vulnerability factors in the field of psychopathology studies. Furthermore, the predictive value of perception of control of emotions indicates the importance of this specific vulnerability factor in the etiology of panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) and, thus, shows the necessity to include emotion regulation strategies in the psychological treatments.Influencia de factores de vulnerabilidad en la gravedad del trastorno de pánico. Antecedentes: en este trabajo se estudia el valor predictivo sobre la gravedad del pánico de tres factores de vulnerabilidad bien establecidos: rasgos de personalidad (neuroticismo y extraversión; NEOPI-R), sensibilidad a la ansiedad (ASI) y percepción de control (ACQ-R). Método: la muestra fue de 52 participantes con diagnóstico de trastorno de pánico, con o sin agorafobia, según criterios DSM-IV-TR. Resultados: nuestros resultados revelan que la faceta de ansiedad es mejor predictor de la gravedad del pánico que el neuroticismo. La sensibilidad a la ansiedad aumenta el valor predictivo sobre la gravedad del pánico y, finalmente, la percepción de control de las emociones es la única subescala de la percepción de control que aumenta la capacidad predictiva más allá de la faceta de ansiedad y la sensibilidad a la ansiedad. Conclusiones: estos resultados apoyan el supuesto sobre la importancia de evaluar las dimensiones de orden inferior de los factores de vulnerabilidad en los estudios psicopatológicos. Además, el valor predictivo de la percepción de control de las emociones indica la importancia de este factor específico de vulnerabilidad en la etiología del trastorno de pánico (con o sin agorafobia) lo que muestra la necesidad de incluir estrategias de regulación emocional en los tratamientos psicológicos.Funded by Gobierno de Aragón (Dpto. Industria e Innovación), Fondo Social Europeo and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain), Plan Nacional (PSI2010-21423/PSIC)