Singing to Emmanuel : the wall paintings of Sant Miquel in Terrassa and the 6th Century Artistic Reception of Byzantium in the Western Mediterranean

Since the late 19th century the wall paintings of Sant Miquel in Terrassa have drawn attention due to their singularity. From the early studies of Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956) to the present, both the iconographic program and the chronology of the paintings have fueled controversy among scholars. In particular, chronological estimates range from the time of Early Christian Art to the Carolingian period. However, a recent technical study of the paintings seems to confirm an early date around the 6th century. This new data allows us to reassess the question in other terms and explore a new possible context for the paintings. First, it is very likely that the choice of iconographic topics was related to the debates on the Arian heresy that took place in Visigothic Spain during the 5th and 6th centuries. Secondly, the paintings of Sant Miquel should be reconsidered as a possible reception of a larger 6th-century pictorial tradition linked to the Eastern Mediterranean, which is used in a very particular way. However, thus far we ignore which were the means for this artistic transmission as well as the reasons which led the "doers" of Terrassa to select such a peculiar and unique repertoire of topics, motifs, and inscriptions. My paper addresses all these questions in order to propose a new Mediterranean framework for the making of this singular set of paintings

Maize synthetics from a mixture of single, three-way, and double cross hybrids using inbreeding coefficients and mean predictions

Equations for inbreeding coefficient and mean prediction were calculated for a synthetic made with a mixture of single, three-way, and double cross hybrids. As inbreeding and mean predictions for the three types of hybrids was already known, corresponding results for inbreeding and mean prediction for the hybrid mixture were ob¬tained with relative ease

Small Size Dual-band Bandpass Filters with Multiconductor Transmission Lines and Shunt Open Stubs

A dual-band bandpass filter consisting of multiconductor transmission lines (MTL) and shunt stubs has been designed. The used topology, based on the interconnection of two identical MTL and a shunt open stub, has a frequency response that can be modelled by using the generalized Chebyshev functions. A prototype of a 4 fingers-MTL is manufactured and measured and a good agreement between analytical and measured results is obtained. Furthermore, it is easy to get a design criterion that enables getting good responses varying just a few parameters.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Contagion between United States and european markets during the recent crises

The main objective of this paper is to detect the existence of financial contagion between the North American and European markets during the recent crises. To accomplish this, the relationships between the US and the Euro zone stock markets are considered, taking the daily equity prices of the Standard and Poor’s 500 as representative of the United States market and for the European market, the five most representative indexes. Time Series Factor Analysis (TSFA) procedure has allowed concentrating the information of the European indexes into a unique factor, which captures the underlying structure of the European return series. The relationship between the European factor and the US stock return series has been analyzed by means of the dynamic conditional correlation model (DCC). Once the DCC is estimated, the contagion between both markets is analyzed. Finally, in order to explain the sudden changes in dynamic US-EU correlation, a Markov switching model is fitted, using as input variables the macroeconomic ones associated with the monetary policies of the US as well as those related to uncertainty in the markets. The results show that there was contagion between the United States and European markets in the Subprime and Global Financial crises. The two-regime Markov switching model has helped to explain the variability of the pair-wise correlation. The first regime contains mostly the financially stable periods, and the dynamic correlations in this regime are explained by macroeconomic variables and other related with monetary policies in Europe and US. The second regime is explained mainly by the Federal Funds rate and the evolution of the Euro/US Exchange rate.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The Remote Access to Laboratories: a Fully Open Integrated System

An existing lab experience can be made remotely accessible in a relatively easy way. The problem is with the design of a tool which allows any kind of experience to be made remotely accessible. The complexity of this tool is out of discussion. Several universities have been working on it for years. In fact, the Huelva University presented the work “A Complete Solution for Developing Remote Labs†in the 10th IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education (2013). Such complete solution was the result of those universities working together. Since then, the joint-work has continued and improvements have also been achieved. Hereafter, a fully open integrated system is presented whose scope is greater than that of 2013. It offers a way to easily implement cloud services for managing the configuration and access to all type of sensors, actuators and controllers (the devices base of the any remote lab). The access proposed is secure, controlled, organized and collaborativ

New insights about the serine/threonine protein kinase substrates from Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular docking, quantum similarity analysis and DFT calculations

Background: The protein kinases present in the human body have received a lot of attention because of the interest in their use as therapeutic targets. However, little is known about the protein kinases associated with tuberculosis. For these reasons, this research investigates a new point of view regarding the crystallized serine/threonine protein kinases Pkn A, B and G of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods: The conformational analysis shows a DFG-in motif in Pkn B and G and a DFG-out motif in Pkn A. For all the protein kinases that have been studied, the gatekeeper residue is methionine. A study of the protein kinases with their ligands was also conducted to find new insights on the binding site with a series of ligands associated to protein kinases Pkn A, B and G through molecular docking. The residues with hydrogen bonds on the hinge zone of Pkn A are GLU96 and VAL 98, of Pkn B are GLU 93 and VAL 95 and of Pkn G are GLU233 and VAL235. Results: The results show the H-bond acceptor and H-bond donor sites on the hinge zone to all ligands, establishing a structural model of the ligands on the active site with two or three interactions in this zone. This interaction model was validated using density functional theory calculations (by means of net charges and images of the electrostatic potential) and molecular quantum similarity analysis, showing a high correlation between the electronic and steric effects in each ATP complex studied. Conclusions: In this work we can see that the interactions of the hinge zone are characterized by the key factor of one or two H-bonds acceptors and one H-bond donor in the ligands of this zone. The quantum similarity analysis shows good correlation between the steric and electronic effects in each ATP complex. © 2021. Morales-Bayuelo A and Sánchez-Márquez

The Anglo-Catalan Connection : the Cult of Thomas Becket at Terrassa-New Approaches

The wall paintings adorning the south transept apse of Santa Maria at Terrassa are among the most notable surviving items pertaining to the iconography of St. Thomas Becket. Recently found documents in which diplomatic archives reveal English connections are essential for understanding the quick reception of the Becket cult in the Crown of Aragon. The presence of an Anglo-Norman canon-Arveus or Harveus (Harvey)-and his position of scribe during the second half of the twelfth century when Reginald, probably also of English origin, was prior there-seem to be the likely source of inspiration for this project. These English connections, which are essential for understanding the quick reception of the Becket cult in the Crown of Aragon, stemmed from the endeavours undertaken some years earlier south of the Pyrenees by the abbot of Saint-Ruf at Avignon, Nicholas Breakspear, who subsequently became Pope Adrian IV