Coastal ECO Research projects

En aquest Research Café es presenten projectes on la tecnologia es posa al servei dels mars i els oceans, i que estan lligats amb els objectius ODS Vida Submarina i Acció pel clima.Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::14 - Vida Submarin

The southern lobe of the Llobregat delta: a natural system controlled by human activity

La evolución reciente del hemidelta Sur del Llobregat (Barcelona) es un claro ejemplo de sistema natural dominado por la acción del hombre. Las necesidades de ocupación de la llanura y frente deltaico junto con la regulación del caudal del río han generado un fuerte desequilibrio sedimentario. El ascenso del nivel del mar a largo plazo inducido por el calentamiento global no hará más que agravar esta situación. El artículo presenta las disfunciones generadas y la difícil coexistencia entre la geomorfología y la actividad humana en 4 puntos representativos de la costa objeto de la visita de campo organizada en el marco de las “Xª Jornadas de Geomorfología Litoral”. En la primera parada, al sur de la unidad se observa el impacto causado por el puerto deportivo de Port Ginesta, responsable del cierre del sistema en términos sedimentarios. La segunda parada, en la zona central, es un ejemplo de evolución costera inducida por la acción del oleaje y la orientación de la costa. En la parada 3 se describen los trabajos de restauración de un sistema dunar. Finalmente, al norte de la unidad se observan los efectos de la divergencia en el transporte longitudinal generados por la ampliación del puerto de Barcelona.Postprint (published version

The Consequences of GBA Deficiency in the Autophagy–Lysosome System in Parkinson’s Disease Associated with GBA

Parkinson’s disease; Autophagy; LysosomeEnfermedad de Parkinson; Autofagia; LisosomaMalaltia de Parkinson; Autofàgia; LisosomaGBA gene variants were the first genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. GBA encodes the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA), which is involved in sphingolipid metabolism. GBA exhibits a complex physiological function that includes not only the degradation of its substrate glucosylceramide but also the metabolism of other sphingolipids and additional lipids such as cholesterol, particularly when glucocerebrosidase activity is deficient. In the context of Parkinson’s disease associated with GBA, the loss of GBA activity has been associated with the accumulation of α-synuclein species. In recent years, several hypotheses have proposed alternative and complementary pathological mechanisms to explain why lysosomal enzyme mutations lead to α-synuclein accumulation and become important risk factors in Parkinson’s disease etiology. Classically, loss of GBA activity has been linked to a dysfunctional autophagy–lysosome system and to a subsequent decrease in autophagy-dependent α-synuclein turnover; however, several other pathological mechanisms underlying GBA-associated parkinsonism have been proposed. This review summarizes and discusses the different hypotheses with a special focus on autophagy-dependent mechanisms, as well as autophagy-independent mechanisms, where the role of other players such as sphingolipids, cholesterol and other GBA-related proteins make important contributions to Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.This work was supported by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain)-FEDER (PI20/00728), Fundación BBVA (NanoERT), Fundació La Caixa (HR22-00602), E.P. was supported by a VHIR doctoral fellowship

Linking managers’ surface acting to their burnout and engagement: The moderating role of eudaimonic wellbeing beliefs

Managers display emotional labor in their interactions with workers, including surface acting (faking emotions). One critical challenge of research is to identify the factors that increase or reduce the negative effects of surface acting on wellbeing at work. “Contribution-to-others” wellbeing beliefs (COWBs) could play a moderating role. COWBs refer to an eudaimonic belief that reflects the degree to which individuals think their own well‐being is based on helping others. To test the moderating role of COWBs, we measured the two central dimensions of burnout and engagement: exhaustion and vigor. Two competing hypotheses were considered. First, based on cognitive dissonance theory, COWBs accentuate the negative relationship between surface acting and wellbeing because individuals are forced to act in a way (surface acting) that is contrary to their beliefs. Second, based on the Job Demands-Resources model, COWBs are a personal resource that protects against the negative effects of surface acting. A total of 95 managers in organizations for individuals with intellectual disability participated in the study. Results supported COWBs as a positive resource, but only for vigor. COWBs mitigated the negative link from surface acting to vigor. By contrast, COWBs did not play a significant moderating role in the prediction of exhaustion.Os gestores expressam o trabalho emocional nas suas interações com os trabalhadores, incluindo a atuação superficial (fingir emoções). Um desafio crítico da investigação é identificar os fatores que aumentam ou reduzem os efeitos negativos da atuação superficial no bem-estar no trabalho. Crenças de bem-estar “contribuição para os outros” (COWBs) poderiam a este nível desempenhar um papel moderador. As COWBs referem-se a uma crença eudaimónica que reflete o grau em que os indivíduos pensam que o seu próprio bem-estar se baseia em ajudar os outros. Para testar o papel moderador das COWBs, medimos as duas dimensões centrais de burnout e engagement: esgotamento e vigor. Duas hipóteses concorrentes foram consideradas. Primeiro, a partir da teoria da dissonância cognitiva, as COWBs acentuam a relação negativa entre a atuação superficial e o bem-estar, porque os indivíduos são forçados a agir de uma maneira (atuação superficial) que é contrária às suas crenças. Em segundo lugar, com base na teoria de recursos de exigências de trabalho, as COWBs são um recurso pessoal que protege contra os efeitos negativos da atuação superficial. Um total de 95 gestores de organizações para indivíduos com deficiência intelectual participaram do estudo. Os resultados apoiaram as COWBs como um recurso positivo, mas apenas para o vigor. As COWBs mitigaram a relação negativa entre atuação superficial e vigor. Por contraste, as COWBs não apresentam um papel moderador significativo na predição do esgotamento

The land–sea coastal border: a quantitative definition by considering the wind and wave conditions in a wave-dominated, micro-tidal environment

A quantitative definition for the land–sea (coastal) transitional area is proposed here for wave-driven areas, based on the variability and isotropy of met-ocean processes. Wind velocity and significant wave height fields are examined for geostatistical anisotropy along four cross-shore transects on the Catalan coast (north-western Mediterranean), illustrating a case of significant changes along the shelf. The variation in the geostatistical anisotropy as a function of distance from the coast and water depth has been analysed through heat maps and scatter plots. The results show how the anisotropy of wind velocity and significant wave height decrease towards the offshore region, suggesting an objective definition for the coastal fringe width. The more viable estimator turns out to be the distance at which the significant wave height anisotropy is equal to the 90th percentile of variance in the anisotropies within a 100 km distance from the coast. Such a definition, when applied to the Spanish Mediterranean coast, determines a fringe width of 2–4 km. Regarding the probabilistic characterization, the inverse of wind velocity anisotropy can be fitted to a log-normal distribution function, while the significant wave height anisotropy can be fitted to a log-logistic distribution function. The joint probability structure of the two anisotropies can be best described by a Gaussian copula, where the dependence parameter denotes a mild to moderate dependence between both anisotropies, reflecting a certain decoupling between wind velocity and significant wave height near the coast. This wind–wave dependence remains stronger in the central baylike part of the study area, where the wave field is being more actively generated by the overlaying wind. Such a pattern controls the spatial variation in the coastal fringe width.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Transposiciones simbólicas de la realidad : El símbolo

Este texto desea explicar por medio de una indagación, la programación e introducción al término: Intervención In –Situ, producto de la propuesta final desarrollada a lo largo de todo el proceso de ejecución. Considerando de especial interés la relación del ser humano con la naturaleza que se dan en este tipo de actividades, fuera de los museos y galerías, también es importante resaltar los diferentes elementos que conforman el tema. Dando al lector una mayor comprensión y entendimiento de estos procesos que también fueron adaptados a la representación desde la pintura, libro arte, fotografía y práctica pedagógica, donde se pudo ver de una manera más amplia la creación artística y no solo limitada a determinadas técnicas ya establecidas en los procesos académicos de las artes visuales. Con este fin se realizó un programa de desarrollo de actividades, donde paso a paso se muestran los avances y la práctica de la intervención en un espacio de la facultad de artes y humanidades de la Universidad Tecnología de Pereira

Managing coastal environments under climate change: pathways to adaptation

This paper deals with the question of how to manage vulnerable coastal systems so as to make them sustainable under present and future climates. This is interpreted in terms of the coastal functionality, mainly natural services and support for socio-economic activities. From here we discuss how to adapt for long term trends and for short terms episodic events using the DPSIR framework. The analysis is presented for coastal archetypes from Spain, Ireland and Romania, sweeping a range of meteo-oceanographic and socio-economic pressures, resulting in a wide range of fluxes among them those related to sediment. The analysis emphasizes the variables that provide a higher level of robustness. That means mean sea level for physical factors and population density for human factors. For each of the studied cases high and low sustainability practices, based on stakeholders preferences, are considered and discussed. This allows proposing alternatives and carrying out an integrated assessment in the last section of the paper. This assessment permits building a sequence of interventions called adaptation pathway that enhances the natural resilience of the studied coastal systems and therefore increases their sustainability under present and future conditions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft