Potential control of forest diseases by solutions of chitosan oligomers, propolis and nanosilver

Producción CientíficaThere is a growing necessity to replace chemical agents with ecofriendly materials, arising from the impact on the environment and/or human health, which calls for the design of new broad-spectrum fungicides. In this work, chitosan oligomers (COs), propolis (Ps) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) mixtures in solution were assessed to control the growth of different phytopathogenic fungi and oomycetes in vitro. Binary solutions of COs-Ps and COs-AgNPs evinced the highest antifungal effect against Fusarium circinatum and Diplodia pinea fungi, respectively, with a ca. 80% reduction in their mycelial growth. The COs solution by itself also proved to be greatly effective against Gremmeniella abietina, Cryphonectria parasitica and Heterobasidion annosum fungi, causing a reduction of 78%, 86% and 93% in their growth rate, respectively. Likewise, COs also attained a 100% growth inhibition on the oomycete Phytophthora cambivora. On the other hand, Ps inhibited totally the growth of Phytophthora ×alni and Phytophthora plurivora. The application of AgNPs reduced the mycelial growth of F. circinatum and D. pinea. However, the AgNPs in some binary and ternary mixtures had a counter-productive effect on the anti-fungal/oomycete activity. In spite of the fact that the anti-fungal/oomycete activity of the different treatments showed a dependence on the particular type of microorganism, these solutions based on natural compounds can be deemed as a promising tool for control of tree diseases.European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST Action FP1406 PINESTRENGTH)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project AGL2015-69370-R

Bounding the plastic strength of polycrystalline voided solids by linear-comparison homogenization techniques

The elastoplastic response of polycrystalline voided solids is idealized here as rigid-perfectly plastic. Bounds on the macroscopic plastic strength for prescribed microstructural statistics and single-crystal strength are computed be means of a linearcomparison homogenization technique developed by Idiart & Ponte Castañeda (2007 Proc. R. Soc. A 463, 907-924. (doi:10.1098/rspa.2006.1797)). Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) and Self-Consistent (SC) results in the form of yield surfaces are reported for cubic and hexagonal polycrystals with isotropic texture and varying degrees of crystal anisotropy. In all cases, the surfaces are smooth, closed and convex. Improvements over earlier linear-comparison bounds of up to 40% are found at high-stress triaxialities. New HS results can even be sharper than earlier SC results for some material systems. In the case of deficient crystals, the SC results assert that voided aggregates of crystals with four independent systems can accommodate arbitrary deformations, those with three independent systems can dilate but not distort, and those with fewer than three independent systems cannot deform at all. We report the sharpest bounds available to date for all classes of material systems considered.Facultad de Ingenierí

A multi-study examination of the relevance of the metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability in emotion regulation and clinical symptoms

Transdiagnostic approaches to psychopathology have postulated that factors related to perceived control are particularly relevant to mental health. Here we focused on a specific perceived control-related construct: metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability. Evidence suggests that dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs play a role in the activation and maintenance of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and emotional distress. Metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of worry are the most strongly associated with psychopathology. In this multi-study research, we hypothesized that metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability make a specific contribution to emotion regulation strategies and clinical symptoms. We tested our hypotheses in four different studies, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally (N = 2224). Participants completed measures of metacognitive beliefs, maladaptive strategies (e.g., worry, thought suppression), and clinical symptoms (e.g., generalized anxiety, emotional distress, depressive and anxiety symptoms). Our results showed that uncontrollability beliefs were the strongest variable associated with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and clinical symptoms (cross-sectionally), and the only ones that predicted them in the long term. We discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of these results in the light of the metacognitive model and control-related theories.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

The influence of skull shape modularity on internal skull structures: a 3D-Pilot study using bears

In order to capture the phenotypic variation of the internal skull structures, such as the sinuses or the brain, it is necessary to perform CT scans in a large number of specimens, which is difficult and expensive. Therefore, while the external morphology of the mammalian cranium has been the subject of many morphometric studies, the internal structures of the cranium have been comparatively less studied. Here, we explore how the variation of external shape reflects the morphology of internal structures. We use the family Ursidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) as a case study because bears have a wide variability of cranial morphologies in part associated with different trophic ecologies. To do this, we digitized a set of landmarks in 3D with a Microscribe G2X from the external surface of the cranium in a wide sample of bears. Additionally, the crania of seven bear species were CT-scanned and prepared digitally to visualize the 3D models of the external cranium morphology and of internal structures. Subsequently, we divided the landmarks into two modules, splanchnocranium and neurocranium, and we perform a two-block partial least squares analysis (2B PLS) to explore the intraspecific (static) morphological changes associated with the covariation between them. These morphological changes were visualized using the morphing technique with the 3D models, looking at both the external shape and the internal structures. In addition, we inferred the volume of the sinuses and of the brain in each hypothetical model. Our results show that the first two PLS axes are associated externally with changes in the basicranial angle, face length and cranium height and width. Concerning the internal structures, there are parallel changes in dorso-ventral and medio-lateral expansion of sinuses and brain, accompanied by their corresponding changes in volume. In contrast, the third PLS axis is related to opposite changes in the volume of sinuses and brain. These preliminary results suggest that the opposite relationship between sinuses and brain volumes in the bear cranium is not as evident as expected, at least at intraspecific level.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

La revolución de los desheredados Participación de las redes de medios comunitarios y alternativos en la construcción de políticas de comunicación en Bolivia

[ES]A partir del desarrollo del análisis de los procesos de policymaking en la construcción de políticas públicas de comunicación y la participación política de las redes de medios comunitarios y alternativos de Bolivia durante el periodo de propuesta, debate y aprobación de la Ley 164 de Telecomunicaciones de 2011, la investigación tiene como propósito el análisis de la inclusión, por parte de estas redes, de elementos de democratización más inclusivos en la regulación y la ampliación de los derechos a la comunicación, desarrollando las diferentes estructuras, formas de participación y apropiación y estrategias de inclusión política que utilizaron dichas redes, entendidas como actores políticos de regulación al interior de los poderes estatales institucionales, bajo la premisa de desarrollar una regulación comunicacional más participativa en el país. Mediante la construcción de una metodología aplicada propia a partir de la utilización de algunas técnicas provenientes de la teoría crítica en la identificación de las estructuras, tales como la recuperación crítica de la historia y el análisis de redes sociales, así como la introducción de herramientas propias del análisis cualitativo de las policynetworks, el objetivo primordial de la tesis centró su atención en reconocer cuáles han sido los actores comunitarios y alternativos y cómo han desarrollado sus estrategias, estructuras y dinámicas de acción, participación e inclusión política en los procesos de establecimiento de políticas públicas y la inclusión en su elaboración de propuestas promovidas desde los diversos actores de la sociedad civil para alcanzar los marcos legales de comunicación e información vigentes hoy en Bolivia, dando prioridad a la reconstrucción teórica y empírica de las formas y canales de construcción y participación política impulsados desde la sociedad civil organizada. Tratado en los términos de construcción de políticas de comunicación integrales, retomando el sentido de la definición primaria de Política Nacional de Comunicación, este texto supone una lectura crítica de los procesos de convergencia, resistencia, lucha, diálogo y respuesta, por parte de los poderes del Estado y sus instituciones, a la articulación en red de los principales movimientos de comunicación comunitaria y alternativa en Bolivia y su institución en actores políticos válidos al interior de las discusiones legislativas, ya sea en forma de creación de un corpus legislativo comunitario propio o de la institucionalización de sus actores como garantes de su propio sostenimiento, así como un recorrido crítico por las formas de lucha y resistencia política desarrollada por dichos actores informales establecidos como constructores de espacio público desde fuera de las fronteras del Estado

Indigenous Community Media as Resistance Memory Building in Bolivia

Despite the broad development of the analysis about the organization of union and popular communication in Bolivia, indigenous communication and its forms of organization have not been analyzed in depth as ways of memory building. This work aims to develop the historical and actual action of indigenous communication networks as political and cultural issues, organized in time around their own practices and identities, cosmologies and cosmogonies.A pesar del amplio desarrollo de análisis sobre las formas de comunicación sindical y popular en el contexto boliviano, la comunicación indígena y sus formas de organización no han sido profundamente analizadas como formas de construcción de memorias de resistencia. Este trabajo pretende construir un desarrollo de la acción histórica y actual de dichas redes, entendidas estas como sujetos político-culturales duales, presentes en sociedades abigarradas, pero organizados a su vez en torno a prácticas e identidades propias, cosmologías y cosmogonías

Indigenous Community Media as Resistance Memory Building in Bolivia

Despite the broad development of the analysis about the organization of union and popular communication in Bolivia, indigenous communication and its forms of organization have not been analyzed in depth as ways of memory building. This work aims to develop the historical and actual action of indigenous communication networks as political and cultural issues, organized in time around their own practices and identities, cosmologies and cosmogonies.</p

Development of Magnetostrictive Transducer Prototype for Blockage Detection on Molten Salt Pipes

In solar thermal power plants molten salt is often used to store and transport the energy that is collected during the day. The external pipe temperature is measured to activate an electric heating system if the temperature approaches the melting point. However, salt solidification cannot be completely excluded from the plant management. Once occurred, the location of a salt blockage is very complex due to the high temperature of the pipe. Therefore, when this problem arises, power plants have to stop production with the consequences in time and cost that this entails. Electro-magnetic acoustic transducers can be used as non-destructive testing systems for this application. A method for salt blockage detection is proposed that is applicable in straight sections of pipes by employing torsional guided waves that are generated with magnetostrictive transducers. The present paper deals with the transducer conception and the design of the power supply to activate it. Two alternatives are proposed and compared to determine the improvement in the amplitude/noise ratio. Finally, the experimental results show the performance of the equipment in a small prototype, thus validating the technique presented

Los medios comunitarios, libres y ciudadanos en el Estado español. Territorios, tecnologías y valores

Presente desde finales de la década de los años 70, el sector de los medios comunitarios, libres y ciudadanos ha tenido una enorme importancia en la construcción de espacios públicos alternativos, diversos y plurales y en la reivindicación de lenguas, culturas y resistencias activas minorizadas bajo diferentes formas de dominación. Sin embargo, a pesar de su importancia social, no existen análisis integrales acerca de la situación actual del sector. Este trabajo pretende ofrecer un panorama de análisis acerca de los actores presentes entre dichos medios, las formas de organización e interacción, la construcción de identidades alternativas y propias, el uso de las nuevas tecnologías y la penetración de los procesos de digitalización en sus estructuras y la construcción de valores comunes y formas propias de participación.Since the late 70s, the sector of the community, free and citizen media has developed a huge importance in the improvement of alternative, diverse and plural public spaces and the claim of languages, cultures and resistances minorised by several forms of domination in the state. Despite its social importance, there is no analysis about the current situation of the sector. This work aims to provide an overview about the actors, forms of organization and interaction, the construction of alternatives and own identities, the use of new technologies, the penetration of the digitization process in its structures and the construction of common values and own forms of participation