Effect of high mobility group nonhistone proteins HMG-20 (ubiquitin) and HMG-17 on histone deacetylase activity assayed in vitro

We have used a method previously described by Reeves and Candido (1) to partially release histone deacetylase from cell nuclei together with putative regulators of the enzyme. Histone deacetylase released from testis cell nuclei and its putative regulators were separated by gel filtration in Sepharose 6B. A peak of low molecular weight contains a heat-stable factor that stimulate histone deacetylase in vitro. Many of the properties of the activator coincide with those of the protein HMG-20 (ubiquitin). Ubiquitin isolated from testis cell nuclei stimulated histone deacetylase in vitro. It has been suggested that HMG-17 partially inhibits histone deacetylase in Fried cell nuclei (2). In our system, HMG-17 shows no inhibitory effect on histone deacetylase activity

La marginalidad del ruido asociado al transporte en la metodología de análisis de ciclo de vida

Ponencia presentada en el XIV Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de Proyectos celebrado en Madrid, 30 de junio, 1 y 2 de julio de 2010The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is a comprehensive environmental impact assessment tool whose aim is to evaluate the most relevant environmental impacts of a product or service along its life cycle. However, LCA studies often fail to include some of the largest impacts of the product system under study. Such is the case of transport noise: despite being a major source of discomfort whose significance can be likened to that of other forms of environmental pollution, it is often neglected in LCA studies. In this study, the causes for the marginality of transport noise in LCA are analyzed. Most of these causes stem from the special characteristics of noise as a pollutant (not just traffic noise but also noise from any other source), which are briefly discussed. The clash of these peculiarities with the limitations of LCA is thought to have seriously hindered the inclusion of noise within LCA. The special characteristics of noise as a pollutant (site-dependency of impacts, human perception issues, non-linearity of impacts and limited availability of data) that have hindered the inclusion of noise within LCA appear to justify a specific treatment within the LCA framework to better accommodate the assessment of its impacts.El Análisis del Ciclo de Vida (ACV) es una herramienta de evaluación de impacto ambiental cuyo objetivo es evaluar los impactos ambientales más relevantes de un producto o servicio a lo largo de su ciclo de vida. Sin embargo, los estudios de ACV a menudo descuidan impactos importantes asociados al sistema-producto. Tal es el caso de ruido del transporte: a pesar de ser una importante fuente de malestar, cuya importancia puede compararse a la de otras formas de contaminación ambiental, es sistemáticamente marginado en los estudios de ACV. Este estudio analiza las causas de la marginalidad del ruido del transporte en el LCA. La mayoría de estas causas se derivan de sus características especiales como contaminante (no sólo el ruido del tráfico, sino también de cualquier otra fuente), que se comentan brevemente. Se sostiene que el choque de estas particularidades con las limitaciones del ACV ha obstaculizado seriamente la inclusión de ruido dentro de la LCA. Las características especiales del ruido como contaminante (dependencia espacio-temporal de los impactos, cuestiones de la percepción humana, no linealidad de los impactos y disponibilidad limitada de datos) parecen justificar un tratamiento específico en el marco de ACV se adapten mejor a la evaluación de sus impactos

Towards a dynamic pipeline framework implemented in (parallel) Haskell

Streaming processing has given rise to new computation paradigms to provide effective and efficient data stream processing. The most important features of these new paradigms are the exploitation of parallelism, the capacity to adapt execution schedulers, reconfigure computational structures, adjust the use of resources according to the characteristics of the input stream and produce incremental results. The Dynamic Pipeline Paradigm (DPP) is a naturally functional approach to deal with stream processing. This fact encourages us to use a purely functional programming language for DPP. In this work, we tackle the problem of assessing the suitability of using (parallel) Haskell to implement a Dynamic Pipeline Framework (DPF). The justification of this choice is twofold. From a formal point of view, Haskell has solid theoretical foundations, providing the possibility of manipulating computations as primary entities. From a practical perspective, it has a robust set of tools for writing multithreading and parallel computations with optimal performance. As proof of concept, we present an implementation of a dynamic pipeline to compute the weakly connected components of a graph (WCC) in Haskell (a.k.a. DPWCC). The DPWCC behavior is empirically evaluated and compared with a solution provided by a Haskell library. The evaluation is assessed in three networks of different sizes and topology. Performance is measured in terms of the time of the first result, continuous generation of results, total time, and consumed memory. The results suggest that DPWCC, even naive, is competitive with the baseline solution available in a Haskell library. DPWCC exhibits a higher continuous behavior and can produce the first result faster than the baseline. Albeit initial, these results put in perspective the suitability of Haskell’s abstractions for the implementation of DPF. Built on them, we will develop a general and parametric DPF in the future.Postprint (published version

Using AI tools to fill an incomplete well log dataset: A workflow

One issue commonly found when working with well log data is the irregular abundance/availability of the different recorded parameters. This is especially applicable when working with datasets collected in different campaigns that may span through the years, even decades, or different companies. Artificial Intelligence may be useful to fill gaps in the original database, resulting in a more complete, standardised one. In this work we present a workflow that can be followed to fills gaps in a dataset using different AI techniques. It consists of four main steps: 1) feature combination selection; 2) hyperparameter tuning; 3) performance assessment and best option choice; 4) blind testing. The process can be performed iteratively, successively populating the database with missing parameters, starting with those for which there are more available training data and whose results are more reliable. In this work, we present an example in which we filled an incomplete dataset consisting of wells provided by the UK National Data Repository (NDR) of the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA). The performance of some of the most commonly used artificial intelligence methods (support vector machine, random forest, multi-layer perceptron) was tested varying their hyperparameters until reaching an adequate result

Effect of Gamma Radiation on the Processability of New and Recycled PA-6 Polymers

The growing quantities of plastic waste have raised environmental concerns, with almost a quarter of disposed plastics being sent to landfill. This has motivated research efforts into various recycling technologies to ease dependence on fossil resources, increasing circularity. Irradiation of various kinds, such as electron beam, beta and gamma rays, has been studied in the past as a way of revamping end-of-life polymer properties. The present work focuses on the effects of gamma radiation on the processability of new and recycled polymers, which is intimately linked with their rheological properties. In this study, both virgin and recycled polymers were irradiated under different radiation doses and the effects of the radiation on their viscosity assessed and compared. Results were analyzed making use of different theoretical relationships, and the causes of the changes in rheology were investigated by means of various characterization techniques, such as GPC, FTIR, EPR and DSC. Finally, the rheological curves of all samples were fitted to the Ostwald–de Waele relationship and the dependence of its parameters on the absorbed dose fitted to a function

Market value vs. legal value in land use change in Spain

[EN] The Spanish Land Law of May 28, 2007 gave rise to a radical change in the determination of the legal value of the land for agricultural use under compulsory purchase proceedings linked to the transformation of their use. Under this new law the compulsory purchase value is calculated based on the real or potential discounted cash flow at a determined rate set in the rule, with the aim of avoiding the negative effects of speculation. The aim of this work was to compare if there are significant differences between the values obtained when applying the methodology provided under the new law and the values presented in the national land prices survey. We have considered whether differences actually exist between the values obtained when applying the methodology provided under the new law and the values presented in the national survey; and the aim of this work is to compare these values. For this purpose the variables relevant for the application of the capitalization method were estimated based on the data published in the Spanish official statistics. Significant differences were found between the legal rate and the one which estimates the market values, with an average value for the studied period of 3.45% and 1.75%, respectively; additionally, different trends were observed. Also the existence of different discount rates for the market value depending on the land use against the unique rate set in the rule has been verified; therefore, the real distortion which a single capitalization rate could give rise to is very significant.Segura García Del Río, B.; Pérez-Salas Sagreras, JL.; Cervelló Royo, RE.; Vidal, F. (2010). Market value vs. legal value in land use change in Spain. Journal of Food Agriculture & Environment. 8(3&4):1208-1211. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/108620S1208121183&

El teatro foro como herramienta de prevención y sensibilización ante el acoso escolar hacia las disidencias sexuales y de género

Este trabajo propone el teatro foro como una herramienta provechosa para prevenir y sensibilizar al estudiantado ante el acoso escolar por disidencias sexuales y de género. La investigación retoma las aportaciones de Paulo Freire y Augusto Boal al mundo de la pedagogía y la cultura con el objetivo de mostrar la actualidad y aplicabilidad del teatro foro en el ámbito de la educación secundaria obligatoria y bachillerato. El planteamiento se enmarca en la teoría de la performatividad de género de la filósofa Judith Butler y establece conexiones entre las técnicas desarrolladas por los autores señalados y las pedagogías Queer. El atractivo pedagógico de dichas conexiones desembocará en la ideación de la tutoría foro, un dispositivo de debate y análisis de las relaciones de poder, que inserta el teatro foro en el plan de acción tutorial del centro educativo.<br /

Use of covalent dynamic networks as binders on epoxy-based carbon fiber composites: Effect on properties, processing, and recyclability

Composites are gaining widespread market interest due to their outstanding mechanical properties and light weight. However, this growth is hindered by the lack of sustainable recycling solutions. This research aims to integrate reversible chemistries to advanced carbon fiber‐reinforced composite materials for recycling in a so‐called eco‐design, circular approach. Diene and dienophile reactions are generated at the surface of the carbon fiber allowing a bond–debond interaction with the epoxy matrix. The application of the Diels–Alder adduct on the fiber modifies its polarity and structure. This research assesses a biobased and synthetic epoxy equivalent and demonstrates that this newly developed interphase chemistry has a direct impact on the crosslinking efficiency of the resin, as well as on their interlaminar properties. Furthermore, it has been observed that depending on the type of resin, these changes can have differing impacts on final properties of the composite, reducing the crosslinking density up to 50% in some modifications while in others the Tg remains constant

ULabGrid, an infrastructure to develop distant laboratories for undergrad students over a Grid

Nowadays, there is a big discussion about two different topics: how distance learning and the old fashioned learning can be improved using the new technologies. In both cases, there are many collaborative tools based on the web infrastructure such as e-mail, web discussing groups, virtual campuses or audio and video conferences, that basically give a way of exchanging information among the different groups involved in learning tasks, but very few of them have been thought to help or to develop laboratory classes (labs). In this paper we describe a GRID infrastructure (ULabGrid) that supports distant laboratories for undergrad students.Peer Reviewe

Interpretation of salt-cored frontal structures in the Southern Pyrenees guided by analog modeling, surface and subsurface data

Southern Pyrenean frontal thrusts are usually blind or partially covered by syn- and post-tectonic sediments of the Ebro Foreland hampering their interpretation. We have investigated the geometry and evolution of the Súria Anticline, a frontal structure of the Southern Pyrenees, which is characterized by the presence of multiple buried and blind thrusts displaying a complex triangle zone and several fishtail structures at depth. To characterize the geometry and structural evolution, a combination of surface geology, subsurface data interpretation, and analog modeling have been integrated into a unique 3D geologic model. The surface geology of this area depicts a rather simple structure, characterized by a north-directed backthrust and a gentle anticline, both striking west-southwest/east-northeast. In contrast, geophysical data indicate that the subsurface structure is more complex, exhibiting several northward- and southward-directed thrusts and folds detaching on the Pyrenean foreland Eocene evaporites. Integration of surface (geologic maps and dip measurements) and subsurface data (seismic and wells) allowed us to reconstruct the 3D structure of this area. To produce a more robust kinematic model, we used an experimental approach to investigate the evolution of frontal structures in folds and thrust belts on evaporitic detachments. Different viscous layer configurations were tested in a series of sandbox models comparing them with the evolution of the Súria Anticline. Taking into account the deformation and that seismic quality is in general poor, the experimental results allow us to better characterize the structures developed in this area. Our structural evolution is characterized by an early stage of salt inflation and fold nucleation. With increasing shortening, the structure evolved to a detachment anticline eventually developing a northward-directed thrust that broke through the northern anticline limb. The present-day geometry developed in a later stage of fold reactivation, when a new regional fold formed, and tightened the preexisting structure