Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
48
result(s) for
"Universitat Jaume I"
Sort by:
Metaphors of Spain : representations of Spanish national identity in the twentieth century
\"The history of twentieth-century Spanish nationalism is a complex one, placing a set of famously distinctive regional identities against a backdrop of religious conflict, separatist violence, and the autocratic rule of Francisco Franco. And despite the undeniably political character of that story, cultural history can also provide essential insights into the subject. Metaphors of Spain brings together leading historians to examine Spanish nationalism through its diverse and complementary cultural artifacts, from 'formal' representations such as the flag to music, bullfighting, and other more diffuse examples. Together they describe not a Spanish national 'essence,' but a nationalism that is constantly evolving and accommodates multiple interpretations\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Benchmarking anthropomorphic hands through grasping simulations
Abstract
In recent decades, the design of anthropomorphic hands has been developed greatly improving both cosmesis and functionality. Experimentation, simulation, and combined approaches have been used in the literature to assess the effect of design alternatives (DAs) on the final performance of artificial hands. However, establishing standard benchmarks for grasping and manipulation is a need recognized among the robotics community. Experimental approaches are costly, time consuming, and inconvenient in early design stages. Alternatively, computer simulation with the adaptation of metrics based on experimental benchmarks for anthropomorphic hands could be useful to evaluate and rank DAs. The aim of this study is to compare the anthropomorphism of the grasps performed with 28 DAs of the IMMA hand, developed by the authors, using either (i) the brute-force approach and grasp quality metrics proposed in previous works or (ii) a new simulation benchmark approach. The new methodology involves the generation of efficient grasp hypotheses and the definition of a new metric to assess stability and human likeness for the most frequently used grasp types in activities of daily living, pulp pinch and cylindrical grip, adapting the experimental Anthropomorphic Hand Assessment Protocol to the simulation environment.
This new simulation benchmark, in contrast to the other approach, resulted in anthropomorphic and more realistic grasps for the expected use of the objects. Despite the inherent limitations of a simulation analysis, the benchmark proposed provides interesting results for selecting optimal DAs in order to perform stable and anthropomorphic grasps.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Journal Article
Advertising communication and spirituality: a critical approach of academics and professionals
This article explores advertising as a space where spiritual discourses are reproduced from the critical approach of academics in communication and sociology, along with professionals in the advertising sector. Therefore, a qualitative methodology of semi-structured interviews with a panel of fifteen experts was used. This research aims to develop a discourse derived from the interviewee’s experience of the meaning provided by advertising as a transcendent dimension. The interviews were analysed by applying a spiral model by simple induction. The study identifies a compensatory character between brands and religions based on a functional definition of the latter, where brands have acquired the ability to construct social meaning, offer an existential programme to the individual, and arouse identity and awareness through their own narration. Without disregarding the economic objective of corporations or the different levels of transcendence expressed by brands and religious forms, there is consensus on advertising’s attempt to follow the same scheme of adhesion, claims, symbology, and evocations offered by religions, assuming a post-materialist turn of the advertising discourse towards transcendental values, even superficially or banally. The list of interviewees and the use of this technique, which has not previously been applied to the interactions between advertising discourse and spirituality, provide an original perspective on this emerging study field
Journal Article
Modulation of Antioxidant Defense System Is Associated with Combined Drought and Heat Stress Tolerance in Citrus
Drought and high temperatures are two major abiotic stress factors that often occur simultaneously in nature, affecting negatively crop performance and yield. Moreover, these environmental challenges induce oxidative stress in plants through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Carrizo citrange and Cleopatra mandarin are two citrus genotypes with contrasting ability to cope with the combination of drought and heat stress. In this work, a direct relationship between an increased antioxidant activity and stress tolerance is reported. According to our results, the ability of Carrizo plants to efficiently coordinate superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GR) activities involved in ROS detoxification along with the maintenance of a favorable GSH/GSSG ratio could be related to their relative tolerance to this stress combination. On the other hand, the increment of SOD activity and the inefficient GR activation along with the lack of CAT and APX activities in Cleopatra plants in response to the combination of drought and heat stress, could contribute to an increased oxidative stress and the higher sensibility of this citrus genotype to this stress combination.
Journal Article
The Sulfated Laminarin Triggers a Stress Transcriptome before Priming the SA- and ROS-Dependent Defenses during Grapevine's Induced Resistance against Plasmopara viticola
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is susceptible to many pathogens which cause significant losses to viticulture worldwide. Chemical control is available, but agro-ecological concerns have raised interest in alternative methods, especially in triggering plant immunity by elicitor treatments. The beta-glucan laminarin (Lam) and its sulfated derivative (PS3) have been previously demonstrated to induce resistance in grapevine against downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola). However, if Lam elicits classical grapevine defenses such as oxidative burst, pathogenesis-related (PR)-proteins and phytoalexin production, PS3 triggered grapevine resistance via a poorly understood priming phenomenon. The aim of this study was to identify the molecular mechanisms of the PS3-induced resistance. For this purpose we studied i) the signaling events and transcriptome reprogramming triggered by PS3 treatment on uninfected grapevine, ii) grapevine immune responses primed by PS3 during P. viticola infection. Our results showed that i) PS3 was unable to elicit reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, cytosolic Ca2+ concentration variations, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation but triggered a long lasting plasma membrane depolarization in grapevine cells, ii) PS3 and Lam shared a common stress-responsive transcriptome profile that partly overlapped the salicylate-(SA) and jasmonate-(JA)-dependent ones. After P. viticola inoculation, PS3 specifically primed the SA-and ROS-dependent defense pathways leading to grapevine induced resistance against this biotroph. Interestingly pharmacological approaches suggested that the plasma membrane depolarization and the downstream ROS production are key events of the PS3-induced resistance.
Journal Article
Resistance of “Pinus pinea” to “Bursaphelenchus xylophilus” explained by the dynamic response of phytohormones, antioxidant activity, and stress‑related gene expression
Key message
The effects of MJ on pine trees are species-specific and trigger a resistant phenotype to the PWN. A more dynamic response of hormones and gene expression in
Pinus pinea
explains the high resistance to
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus
of this species.
Knowledge on hormonal and genetic mechanisms of pine trees in response to the pinewood nematode (PWN;
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus
) is limited. To describe tree defence strategies against
B. xylophilus
, this study used the plant stress hormone methyl jasmonate (MJ) on four pine species with different susceptibility (
Pinus pinaster
<
P. radiata
≈
P. sylvestris
<
P. pinea
). Three-year-old trees were sprayed with MJ at 0, 25, and 50 mM, and 2 months later challenged with the PWN. Multiple samples were taken to assess nematode content, oxidative stress, secondary metabolites, phytohormone levels, and stress-related gene expression. Nematode infestation in trees correlated negatively with the water content of needles and phenolics of stems, and positively with the concentration of indole-3-carboxylic acid in stems. MJ spray reduced in a dose-dependent manner the nematode content in
P. pinaster
and
P. sylvestris
. The effects of MJ were species-specific, although a more pronounced impact was observed in the susceptible
P. pinaster
species, leading to a decrease of chlorophyll and water loss and to the upregulation of the gene involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoids (
AFS
). After MJ spray, increased levels of JA-Ile were observed in
P. pinea
only. Hormone profiling, predisposition to activate antioxidant response, and gene expression in
P. pinea
trees provide evidence of why this species is highly resistant to
B. xylophilus
. On the contrary, the lack of effective hormonal changes in
P. pinaster
explained the lack of defence responses to
B. xylophilus
of this susceptible species. This study is a first approach to explore biochemical, molecular, and hormonal interactions between
Pinus
species and the PWN, and presents unprecedented insights into alterations induced by exogenous MJ in regulating defence mechanisms in pine trees.
Journal Article
Mapping the intensity function of a non-stationary point process in unobserved areas
Seismic networks provide data that are used as basis both for public safety decisions and for scientific research. Their configuration affects the data completeness, which in turn, critically affects several seismological scientific targets (e.g., earthquake prediction, seismic hazard...). In this context, a key aspect is how to map earthquakes density in seismogenic areas from censored data or even in areas that are not covered by the network. We propose to predict the spatial distribution of earthquakes from the knowledge of presence locations and geological relationships, taking into account any interaction between records. Namely, in a more general setting, we aim to estimate the intensity function of a point process, conditional to its censored realization, as in geostatistics for continuous processes. We define a predictor as the best linear unbiased combination of the observed point pattern. We show that the weight function associated to the predictor is the solution of a Fredholm equation of second kind. Both the kernel and the source term of the Fredholm equation are related to the first- and second-order characteristics of the point process through the intensity and the pair correlation function. Results are presented and illustrated on simulated non-stationary point processes and real data for mapping Greek Hellenic seismicity in a region with unreliable and incomplete records.
Journal Article
Updated pest categorisation of Xylella fastidiosa
Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Plant Health Panel updated its pest categorisation of Xylella fastidiosa, previously delivered as part of the pest risk assessment published in 2015. X. fastidiosa is a Gram-negative bacterium, responsible for various plant diseases, including Pierce's disease, phony peach disease, citrus variegated chlorosis, olive quick decline syndrome, almond leaf scorch and various other leaf scorch diseases. The pathogen is endemic in the Americas and is present in Iran. In the EU, it is reported in southern Apulia in Italy, on the island of Corsica and in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in France, as well as in the Autonomous region of Madrid, the province of Alicante and the Balearic Islands in Spain. The reported status is 'transient, under eradication', except for the Balearic Islands, Corsica and southern of Apulia, where the status is 'present with a restricted distribution, under containment'. The pathogen is regulated under Council Directive 2000/29/EC and through emergency measures under Decision (EU) 2015/789 (as amended Decision (EU) 2017/2352). The pest could enter the EU via host plants for planting and via infectious insect vectors. The host range includes hundreds of host species listed in the EFSA host plant database. In the EU, host plants are widely distributed and climatic conditions are favourable for its establishment. X. fastidiosa can spread by movement of host plants for planting and infectious insect vectors. X. fastidiosa is known to cause severe direct damage to major crops including almonds, citrus, grapevines, olives, stone fruits and also forest trees, landscape and ornamental trees, with high impacts. The criteria assessed by the Panel for consideration as a potential Union quarantine pest are met (the pathogen is present in the EU, but it has a restricted distribution and is under official control). X. fastidiosa is not considered as a regulated non-quarantine pest (RNQP) as the pathogen may spread also via insect vector transmission.
Journal Article
The P. aeruginosa effector Tse5 forms membrane pores disrupting the membrane potential of intoxicated bacteria
The type VI secretion system (T6SS) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa injects effector proteins into neighbouring competitors and host cells, providing a fitness advantage that allows this opportunistic nosocomial pathogen to persist and prevail during the onset of infections. However, despite the high clinical relevance of P. aeruginosa, the identity and mode of action of most P. aeruginosa T6SS-dependent effectors remain to be discovered. Here, we report the molecular mechanism of Tse5-CT, the toxic auto-proteolytic product of the P. aeruginosa T6SS exported effector Tse5. Our results demonstrate that Tse5-CT is a pore-forming toxin that can transport ions across the membrane, causing membrane depolarisation and bacterial death. The membrane potential regulates a wide range of essential cellular functions; therefore, membrane depolarisation is an efficient strategy to compete with other microorganisms in polymicrobial environments.
Journal Article
Bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) exposed to long term feeding trials with different experimental diets
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (16 EPA list) were determined in oils, fish feed, and fillets from gilthead sea bream fed through a full production cycle (14 months) with feed containing different proportions of fish oil replaced by vegetable oils, followed by a finishing phase with fish oil. At the beginning of the study, fish presented 46.6 mu g/kg fresh weight of the sum of PAHs in fillet and a benzo[a]pyrene equivalent value of 9.1 mu g/kg fresh weight. These levels decreased after 330 days of rearing to values around 2 mu g/kg. Although the concentration increased again during the finishing phase, they remained low. These low concentrations of PAHs could be the result of a dilution process associated with fish growth and with the detoxification pathways, both favored by the low levels of PAHs present in the feeds and the lack of any other potential source of contamination during the whole rearing period.
Journal Article