The Other Wars of Our Ancestors: Intercommunitarian Violence in Contemporary Rural Galicia

Se estudia, a través de la documentación, la prensa, las fuentes literarias y la tradición oral, el paso de la violencia ritual intercomunitaria propia del mundo rural de Galicia a las actividades de índole societaria y política a fines del siglo XIX y primer tercio del siglo XX. Juzgadas en el pasado como un signo del carácter incivilizado de la población rural, esta variedad de «violencia horizontal» revela sin embargo una lógica interna relacionada con la defensa de la comunidad aldeana y el ciclo vital de los varones.This article deals with ritual forms of inter-community violence endemic in rural Galicia and their interaction with new varieties of societal and political activity in the late nineteenth century and first third of the twentieth century. We approach the subject using archival documents, press and literary sources and oral tradition. Seen in the past as a sign of the uncivilized character of the rural population, this variety of «horizontal violence» reveal however an inner logic related to the defense of the cohesion of the village community and the life-cycle of the males.Este trabajo se enmarca dentro del proyecto I+D «La gran transformación tecnológica y social de la agricultura ibéricas: nuevos y novísimos paradigmas, 1950-2000», financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad con referencia HAR2013-47934-P. Grupo de Referencia Competitiva «Historia Agraria y Política del Mundo Rural» (HISTAGRA) dirigido por Lourenzo Fernández PrietoS

Survival of lactic acid bacteria in sea water. A factorial study

6 páginas, 3 figuras, 4 tablas.-- The final publication is available at www.springerlink.comA feasibility study of lactic bacteria as potential probiotics in larval cultures of marine fish was performed by investigating the survival of five strains of lactic bacteria in seawater by readily standardized procedures at different temperatures and salinities. These conditions were chosen in such a way that their combinations define a complete first-order factorial design. Depending on the strain and the ambient conditions, the survival adhered to first-order kinetics in some cases, and to the Gompertz equation in others. The half lives (t0.5) calculated from these models were subsequently introduced as responses to the factorial designs, estimating the coefficients of empirical equations that describe the group effect of temperature and salinity on t0.5. Simply additive effects were found in two cases, a negative first-order interaction in another case, while another two required second-order models.Xunta de Galicia (Project PGIDT99MAR40203)Peer reviewe

From urea to melamine cyanurate: Study of a class of thermal condensation routes for the preparation of graphitic carbon nitride

Producción CientíficaThis work presents a survey of the intermediates in the well-known thermal synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride from urea. The analysis of the crystalline phases depicts a successive transformation of the precursor into different substances previously used as starting reactants, whereby melamine cyanurate arises as the ultimate precursor of a class of thermal condensation routes to obtain graphitic carbon nitride. The study of the optical properties of the synthesized materials evidences the simultaneous production of an amorphous phase with a significant presence of melon oligomers. These results are also supported by the further characterization of the materials performed using THz-TDS, FT-IR, HRTEM, and XPS techniques, and by theoretical studies conducted using semi-empirical quantum chemistry methods.Junta de Castilla y León (grant VA296P18)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (grant PID2020-320 119418GB-I00

Biphasic toxicodynamic features of some antimicrobial agents on microbial growth: a dynamic mathematical model and its implications on hormesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the present work, we describe a group of anomalous dose-response (DR) profiles and develop a dynamic model that is able to explain them. Responses were obtained from conventional assays of three antimicrobial agents (nisin, pediocin and phenol) against two microorganisms (<it>Carnobacterium piscicola </it>and <it>Leuconostoc mesenteroides</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Some of these anomalous profiles show biphasic trends which are usually attributed to hormetic responses. But they can also be explained as the result of the time-course of the response from a microbial population with a bimodal distribution of sensitivity to an effector, and there is evidence suggesting this last origin. In light of interest in the hormetic phenomenology and the possibility of confusing it with other phenomena, especially in the bioassay of complex materials we try to define some criteria which allow us to distinguish between <it>sensu stricto </it>hormesis and biphasic responses due to other causes. Finally, we discuss some problems concerning the metric of the dose in connection with the exposure time, and we make a cautionary suggestion about the use of bacteriocins as antimicrobial agents.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The mathematical model proposed, which combines the basis of DR theory with microbial growth kinetics, can generate and explain all types of anomalous experimental profiles. These profiles could also be described in a simpler way by means of bisigmoidal equations. Such equations could be successfully used in a microbiology and toxicology context to discriminate between hormesis and other biphasic phenomena.</p

ISG20L2: an RNA nuclease regulating T cell activation.

ISG20L2, a 3' to 5' exoribonuclease previously associated with ribosome biogenesis, is identified here in activated T cells as an enzyme with a preferential affinity for uridylated miRNA substrates. This enzyme is upregulated in T lymphocytes upon TCR and IFN type I stimulation and appears to be involved in regulating T cell function. ISG20L2 silencing leads to an increased basal expression of CD69 and induces greater IL2 secretion. However, ISG20L2 absence impairs CD25 upregulation, CD3 synaptic accumulation and MTOC translocation towards the antigen-presenting cell during immune synapsis. Remarkably, ISG20L2 controls the expression of immunoregulatory molecules, such as AHR, NKG2D, CTLA-4, CD137, TIM-3, PD-L1 or PD-1, which show increased levels in ISG20L2 knockout T cells. The dysregulation observed in these key molecules for T cell responses support a role for this exonuclease as a novel RNA-based regulator of T cell function.This study was supported by grant P2022/BMD7209- INTEGRAMUNE from the Comunidad de Madrid, a grant from “La Caixa” Banking Foundation (HR17-00016) to FS-M; the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PDC2021-121719-I00 and PID2020-120412RB-I00 to FS-M), grant from AECC, CIBER Cardiovascular (CB16/11/00272, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funding by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER). The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Pro-CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015- 0505). Vaňáčová’s laboratory is supported by the Czech Science Foundation (20-19617S and 23-07372S to S.V.) and the institutional support CEITEC 2020 (LQ1601). ARG and SGD are supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Universities. Funding agencies do not have intervened in the design of the studies, with no copyright over the study.S

Array Optimization for an On-The-Move 3D Imaging System Demonstrator

IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting ( 2018. Boston)In this work, array optimization for an imaging system demonstrator is presented. It is able to create 3D images of people as they walk through the scanner and it makes use of a very low number of transceivers. The array positions have been optimized to minimize grating lobes and maximize resolution for a given number of array elements

Comparison of the activities of C2N and BCNO towards Congo red degradation

An n-type organic carbon nitride semiconductor, C2N, was synthesized by the pyrolysis of uric acid, and its properties were investigated by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies, X-ray powder diffraction, and vibrational, UV-visible and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. This novel material, composed of crystalline flakes, featured a broad absorption centered at 700¿nm, possibly due to charge transfer, and a 2.49¿eV band gap. Its catalytic performance was assessed for the treatment of effluents with the diazo dye Congo red, comparing it with that of boron carbon nitrogen oxide, BCNO. Both wide band gap semiconductors exhibited decolorizing activity in the dark, although the mechanisms were different and were not photocatalytic: BCNO was more effective towards the adsorption-coordination due to the presence of B-O, while C2N was effective towards the adsorption and the advancement of the oxidation reaction. Their kinetic constants (0.19 and 0.02 min-1 for BCNO and C2N, respectively) were comparable to those of intermetallic compounds studied for azo dyes degradation in dark conditions. In view of the high color removal efficiency (97% after 20¿min) and good reusability of BCNO, this study suggests a potential application of this catalyst for wastewater treatment, alone or in combination with C2N

Clonal hematopoiesis is not prevalent in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome.

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), defined as the presence of somatic mutations in cancer-related genes in blood cells in the absence of hematological cancer, has recently emerged as an important risk factor for several age-related conditions, especially cardiovascular disease. CHIP is strongly associated with normal aging, but its role in premature aging syndromes is unknown. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is an ultra-rare genetic condition driven by the accumulation of a truncated form of the lamin A protein called progerin. HGPS patients exhibit several features of accelerated aging and typically die from cardiovascular complications in their early teens. Previous studies have shown normal hematological parameters in HGPS patients, except for elevated platelets, and low levels of lamin A expression in hematopoietic cells relative to other cell types in solid tissues, but the prevalence of CHIP in HGPS remains unexplored. To investigate the potential role of CHIP in HGPS, we performed high-sensitivity targeted sequencing of CHIP-related genes in blood DNA samples from a cohort of 47 HGPS patients. As a control, the same sequencing strategy was applied to blood DNA samples from middle-aged and elderly individuals, expected to exhibit a biological age and cardiovascular risk profile similar to HGPS patients. We found that CHIP is not prevalent in HGPS patients, in marked contrast to our observations in individuals who age normally. Thus, our study unveils a major difference between HGPS and normal aging and provides conclusive evidence that CHIP is not frequent in HGPS and, therefore, is unlikely to contribute to the pathophysiology of this accelerated aging syndrome.This work was supported by Fundación “la Caixa” (grant number LCF/PR/HR17/52150007 to VF, and JJF). JJF is supported by a Ramón y Cajal award (RYC2016–20026) from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/10.13039/501100011033 and Fondo Social Europeo “El FSE invierte en tu futuro”. VA’s lab is supported by MICIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Fondo Social Europeo “El FSE invierte en tu futuro” (grant number PID2019-108489RBI00), the Progeria Research Foundation (Award PRF 2019–77), and a donation from Asociación Progeria Alexandra Peraut. LBG is supported by The Progeria Research Foundation. MDD is supported by a predoctoral FPI fellowship from the Spanish MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Fondo Social Europeo “El FSE invierte en tu futuro” (PRE2019-087463), and MA-P is supported by a predoctoral FPU contract from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU18/02913). The CNIC is supported by the MICIN, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Pro-CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (grant number CEX2020-001041-S funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).S

Nitrogen-carbon graphite-like semiconductor synthesized from uric acid

A new carbon-nitrogen organic semiconductor has been synthesized by pyrolysis of uric acid. This layered carbon-nitrogen material contains imidazole-, pyridine (naphthyridine)- and graphitic-like nitrogen, as evinced by infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. Quantum chemistry calculations support that it would consist of a 2D polymeric material held together by hydrogen bonds. Layers are stacked with an interplanar distance between 3.30 and 3.36 Å, as in graphite and coke. Terahertz spectroscopy shows a behavior similar to that of amorphous carbons, such as coke, with non-interacting layers. This material features substantial differences from polymeric carbon nitride, with some characteristics closer to those of nitrogen-doped graphene, in spite of its higher nitrogen content. The direct optical band gap, dependent on the polycondensation temperature, ranges from 2.10 to 2.32 eV. Although in general the degree of crystallinity is low, in the material synthesized at 600 °C some spots with a certain degree of crystallinity can be found