En memoria de Marie-Joseph Lagrange, Doctor de la tradición bíblica

La alabanza que tributa Xavier Zubiri a Marie-Joseph Lagrange se sitúa en un marco poco convencional, si se piensa que fue escrita en 1938. Su tesis es que Lagrange entendió mejor que otros exegetas las enseñanzas de León XIII en la encíclica Providentissimus Deus (1893). Es indudable que la revelación de Dios se hace por medio de la inspiración. Pero la inspiración del hagiógrafo no es ni infusión de meras palabras, ni pura recepción de conceptos. Es, más bien, una iluminación en orden a juzgar con más profundidad, claridad y acierto las ideas que el escritor quiere comunicar. En la inspiración, el hagiógrafo expone –iluminado por una luz especial de Dios– ideas que él ha adquirido natural o sobrenaturalmente. Por ello, al leer al hagiógrafo se puede descubrir qué ha querido enseñar Dios. En esto se fundamenta la primacía del sentido literal y la importancia del método histórico-crítico. Esta había sido también la tesis de Tomás de Aquino, en la que bebió Lagrange. Por tal razón, dice Zubiri que Lagrange entendió la tradición mejor que los tradicionalistas

Can tundish deskulling waste be used as a magnesium oxide source to develop magnesium phosphate cement?

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has a significant environmental impact since approximately 0.81 kg of CO2 is generated for every kilogram produced. Thus, it is mandatory to look for sustainable alternative cements. One of the most promising materials in this sense is magnesium phosphate cement (MPC). This study evaluates the possibility of revaluing a waste obtained from the tundish deskulling (TUN) as a raw material for formulating alternative MPC. This approach aims to promote the circular economy and minimizing the environmental impact of MPC. The tundish working lining is a crucial refractory material used in continuous steel casting. An optimal cement formulation was achieved by maximizing the compressive strength (CS) at 7 days, resulting in the combination of 60 wt% of TUN and 40 wt% of KH2PO4, with a water/cement (W/C) ratio of 0.27. The physical and mechanical properties were evaluated at three different stages: after 1, 7, and 28 days of curing. Furthermore, an exhaustive physicochemical characterization was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using it as an alternative cement. This study confirms the feasibility of formulating MPC using TUN as raw material due to the main product obtained, which is K-struvite. The use of TUN implies important economic savings and enhances sustainability criteria avoiding its management in landfills

Mother Knows Best: Dominant Females Determine Offspring Dispersal in Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Background: Relatedness between group members is central to understanding the causes of animal dispersal. In many group-living mammals this can be complicated as extra-pair copulations result in offspring having varying levels of relatedness to the dominant animals, leading to a potential conflict between male and female dominants over offspring dispersal strategies. To avoid resource competition and inbreeding, dominant males might be expected to evict unrelated males and related females, whereas the reverse strategy would be expected for dominant females. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used microsatellites and long-term data from an urban fox (Vulpes vulpes) population to compare dispersal strategies between offspring with intra- and extra-group fathers and mothers of differing social status in red foxes. Relatedness to the dominant male had no effect on dispersal in offspring of either sex, whereas there was a strong effect of relatedness to resident females on offspring dispersal independent of population density. Males with dominant mothers dispersed significantly more often than males with subordinate mothers, whereas dispersing females were significantly more likely to have subordinate mothers compared to philopatric females. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first study to demonstrate that relatedness to resident females is important in juvenile dispersal in group-living mammals. Male dispersal may be driven by inbreeding avoidance, whereas female dispersal appears to be influenced by the fitness advantages associated with residing with the same-sex dominant parent. Selection pressure for paternal influence on offspring dispersal is low due to the limited costs associated with retaining unrelated males and the need for alternative inbreeding avoidance mechanisms between the dominant male and his female offspring. These findings have important implications for the evolution of dispersal and group living in social mammals, and our understanding of a key biological process.peerReviewe

En memoria de Marie-Joseph Lagrange, Doctor de la tradición bíblica

La alabanza que tributa Xavier Zubiri a Marie-Joseph Lagrange se sitúa en un marco poco convencional, si se piensa que fue escrita en 1938. Su tesis es que Lagrange entendió mejor que otros exegetas las enseñanzas de León XIII en la encíclica Providentissimus Deus (1893). Es indudable que la revelación de Dios se hace por medio de la inspiración. Pero la inspiración del hagiógrafo no es ni infusión de meras palabras, ni pura recepción de conceptos. Es, más bien, una iluminación en orden a juzgar con más profundidad, claridad y acierto las ideas que el escritor quiere comunicar. En la inspiración, el hagiógrafo expone –iluminado por una luz especial de Dios– ideas que él ha adquirido natural o sobrenaturalmente. Por ello, al leer al hagiógrafo se puede descubrir qué ha querido enseñar Dios. En esto se fundamenta la primacía del sentido literal y la importancia del método histórico-crítico. Esta había sido también la tesis de Tomás de Aquino, en la que bebió Lagrange. Por tal razón, dice Zubiri que Lagrange entendió la tradición mejor que los tradicionalistas

Modulating the Emission Intensity of Poly-(9,9-bis(6‘-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)hexyl)-Fluorene Phenylene) Bromide Through Interaction with Sodium Alkylsulfonate Surfactants

The interaction between the cationic HTMA-PFP (Poly-(9,9-bis(6‘-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)hexyl-fluorene phenylene) bromide) and oppositely charged sodium n-alkyl sulfonate surfactants of different chain lengths has been studied in DMSO−water solutions (4% v/v) by UV−visible absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence lifetimes, electrical conductivity, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Polymer−surfactant interactions lead to complex spectroscopic behaviors which depends on surfactant concentration. At low surfactant concentrations, the observed strong static fluorescence quenching of fluorescence seems to be associated with formation of aggregates between polymer chains neutralized through interaction with surfactants. This is supported by conductivity and by analysis of absorption spectra deconvoluted at each surfactant concentration using an adapted iterative method. In contrast, above the surfactant critical micelle concentration, there is a strong fluorescence enhancement, leading in some cases to higher intensities than in the absence of surfactants. This is attributed to the transformation of the initially formed aggregates into some new aggregate species involving surfactant and polymer. These changes in HTMA-PFP fluorescence as a function of n-alkyl sulfonate concentration are important for the general understanding of polymer−surfactant interactions, and the aggregates formed may be important as novel systems for applications of these conjugated polyelectrolytes