Moderata Fonte y María Zambrano: por cuenta propia

In this paper, Rosa Rius thinks about feminine identity and its history, based on the expressions of freedom of two authors living four centuries apart: the Venetian humanist Moderata Fonte (1555-1592) and the Malagan philosopher María Zambrano (1904-1991). The fact that these women¿s freedom is taken as one of their main identifying elements, and straining the historical action of this freedom, unforeseen by the establishment, does not at all imply that the undeniable discrimination inflicted upon women throughout centuries is forgotten or goes on without protest.

Cultura y espiritualidad en la edad moderna valenciana: Juan de Juanes y el ostensorio bifaz de la iglesia parroquial de San Andrés de L'Alcúdia.

En este artículo, partiendo de las pinturas de Juan de Juanes en l¿Alcúdia, analizamos las cuestiones sociales que pudieron incidir en su producción artística, iconografía y difusión dentro del ámbito valenciano. La posible influencia del erasmismo, la filosofía intimista, la cristología de Eiximenis o el adoctrinamiento a los moriscos son algunos aspectos sobre los que centramos nuestra reflexión.

Nadolol plus isosorbide mononitrate alone or associated with band ligation in the prevention of recurrent bleeding: A multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background and aims: Previous clinical trials suggest that adding non-selective beta-blockers improves the efficacy of endoscopic band ligation (EBL) in the prevention of recurrent bleeding, but no study has evaluated whether EBL improves the efficacy of beta-blockers + isosorbide-5-mononitrate. The present study was aimed at evaluating this issue in a multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) and to correlate changes in hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) during treatment with clinical outcomes. Methods: 158 patients with cirrhosis, admitted because of variceal bleeding, were randomised to receive nadolol+isosorbide-5-mononitrate alone (Drug: n=78) or combined with EBL (Drug+EBL; n=80). HVPG measurements were performed at randomisation and after 4¿6 weeks on medical therapy. Results: Median follow-up was 15 months. One-year probability of recurrent bleeding was similar in both groups (33% vs 26%: p=0.3). There were no significant differences in survival or need of rescue shunts. Overall adverse events or those requiring hospital admission were significantly more frequent in the Drug+EBL group. Recurrent bleeding was significantly more frequent in HVPG non-responders than in responders (HVPG reduction ¿20% or ¿12 mm Hg). Among non-responders recurrent bleeding was similar in patients treated with Drugs or Drugs+EBL. Conclusions: Adding EBL to pharmacological treatment did not reduce recurrent bleeding, the need for rescue therapy, or mortality, and was associated with more adverse events. Furthermore, associating EBL to drug therapy did not reduce the high rebleeding risk of HVPG non-responders.

Hepatitis G virus infection in primary Sjögren's syndrome: analysis in a series of 100 patients.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in a large cohort of patients with primary Sjögren¿s syndrome (SS). PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 100 consecutive patients (92 female and eight male), with a mean age of 62 years (range 31¿80) that were prospectively visited in our unit. All patients fulfilled the European Community criteria for SS and underwent a complete history, physical examination, as well as biochemical and immunological evaluation for liver disease. Two hundred volunteer blood donors were also studied. The presence of HGV-RNA was investigated in the serum of all patients and donors. Aditionally, HBsAg and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were determined. RESULTS Four patients (4%) and six volunteer blood donors (3%) presented HGV-RNA sequences in serum. HGV infection was associated with biochemical signs of liver involvement in two (50%) patients. When compared with primary SS patients without HGV infection, no significant differences were found in terms of clinical or immunological features. HCV coinfection occurs in one (25%) of the four patients with HGV infection. CONCLUSION The prevalence of HGV infection in patients with primary SS is low in the geographical area of the study and HCV coinfection is very uncommon. HGV infection alone does not seen to be an important cause of chronic liver injury in the patients with primary SS in this area.

Genetic variants of the FADS gene cluster and ELOVL gene family, colostrums LC-PUFA levels, breastfeeding, and child cognition

Introduction: Breastfeeding effects on cognition are attributed to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), but controversy persists. Genetic variation in fatty acid desaturase (FADS) and elongase (ELOVL) enzymes has been overlooked when studying the effects of LC-PUFAs supply on cognition. We aimed to: 1) to determine whether maternal genetic variants in the FADS cluster and ELOVL genes contribute to differences in LC-PUFA levels in colostrum; 2) to analyze whether these maternal variants are related to child cognition; and 3) to assess whether children's variants modify breastfeeding effects on cognition. Methods: Data come from two population-based birth cohorts (n = 400 mother-child pairs from INMA-Sabadell; and n = 340 children from INMA-Menorca). LC-PUFAs were measured in 270 colostrum samples from INMA-Sabadell. Tag SNPs were genotyped both in mothers and children (13 in the FADS cluster, 6 in ELOVL2, and 7 in ELOVL5). Child cognition was assessed at 14 mo and 4 y using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the McCarthy Scales of Children"s Abilities, respectively. Results: Children of mothers carrying genetic variants associated with lower FADS1 activity (regulating AA and EPA synthesis), higher FADS2 activity (regulating DHA synthesis), and with higher EPA/AA and DHA/AA ratios in colostrum showed a significant advantage in cognition at 14 mo (3.5 to 5.3 points). Not being breastfed conferred an 8- to 9-point disadvantage in cognition among children GG homozygote for rs174468 (low FADS1 activity) but not among those with the A allele. Moreover, not being breastfed resulted in a disadvantage in cognition (5 to 8 points) among children CC homozygote for rs2397142 (low ELOVL5 activity), but not among those carrying the G allele. Conclusion: Genetically determined maternal supplies of LC-PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation appear to be crucial for child cognition. Breastfeeding effects on cognition are modified by child genetic variation in fatty acid desaturase and elongase enzymes.

Front propagation in spatially modulated media

A two-dimensional reaction-diffusion front which propagates in a modulated medium is studied. The modulation consists of a spatial variation of the local front velocity in the transverse direction to that of the front propagation. We study analytically and numerically the final steady-state velocity and shape of the front, resulting from a nontrivial interplay between the local curvature effects and the global competition process between different maxima of the control parameter. The transient dynamics of the process is also studied numerically and analytically by means of singular perturbation techniques.

External Fluctuations in Front Propagation

We study the effects of external noise in a one-dimensional model of front propagation. Noise is introduced through the fluctuations of a control parameter leading to a multiplicative stochastic partial differential equation. Analytical and numerical results for the front shape and velocity are presented. The linear-marginal-stability theory is found to increase its range of validity in the presence of external noise. As a consequence noise can stabilize fronts not allowed by the deterministic equation.

Contreras Cortés, Francisco y Cámara Serrano, Juan Antonio: La jerarquización social en la Edad del Bronce del Alto Guadalquivir (España). El poblado de Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén)

La denominada cultura argárica ha sido desde siempre uno de los focos más atractivos de la Prehistoria peninsular. El libro que tenemos entre las manos aporta un grano de arena más al conocimiento de esta cultura, pero atendiendo a uno de los grupos geográficamente más periféricos, lo que complementa los trabajos que desde mucho tiempo atrás se vienen realizando en diversos puntos del SE peninsular, área nuclear de este fenómeno.

Pere Bosch Gimpera y Juan Cabré. La pugna por el control de las excavaciones en San Antonio de Calaceite y el Bajo Aragón (1914-1916) y su influencia en la creación del Servei d"Investigacions Arqueològiques del IEC

En la historiografía de la investigación sobre la cultura ibérica, el poblado de San Antonio el Pobre (Calaceite) va indeleblemente unido a las intervenciones del Institut d¿Estudis Catalans (IEC) y a la figura de Pere Bosch Gimpera, sin duda el prehistoriador español de mayor prestigio hasta el final de la guerra civil. Sin embargo, es significativo que dicho conocimiento se deba más a trabajos aislados y a la recuperación de sus diarios de excavación realizada por Francisca Pallarés Salvador en 1958, que a la publicación de una serie de monografías que recogiera sus trabajos en el área entre 1914 y 1923.

El Solutrense en la costa de Málaga: contexto paleoambiental y cronocultural.

La franja costera de la provincia de Málaga aporta algunos de los mejores yacimientos para el estudio del Solutrense en el sur de la península Ibérica. En este trabajo se analiza el estado de conocimiento de los principales registros conocidos hasta el momento en este ámbito geográfico. La secuencia paleoambiental se aborda principalmente a partir de la nueva información obtenida en Bajondillo, donde se han realizado análisis micromorfológicos, sedimentarios, polínicos e isotópicos. Los aspectos culturales, que se definen a través de los análisis tecnológicos, económicos, simbólicos o funcionales, nos ayudan a identificar los principales rasgos culturales del Solutrense en este ámbito geográfico. La interrelación de todos estos datos arroja una secuencia que participa en términos generales de las características del Solutrense del ámbito mediterráneo ibérico. No obstante, se han encontrado ciertas particularidades en el ámbito económico o secuencial.

Earliest known use of marine resources by neanderthals

Numerous studies along the northern Mediterranean borderland have documented the use of shellfish by Neanderthals but none of these finds are prior to Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3). In this paper we present evidence that gathering and consumption of mollusks can now be traced back to the lowest level of the archaeological sequence at Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, Spain), dated during the MIS 6. The paper describes the taxonomical and taphonomical features of the mollusk assemblages from this level Bj19 and briefly touches upon those retrieved in levels Bj18 (MIS 5) and Bj17 (MIS 4), evidencing a continuity of the shellfishing activity that reaches to MIS 3. This evidence is substantiated on 29 datings through radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and U series methods. Obtained dates and paleoenvironmental records from the cave include isotopic, pollen, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological analyses and they are fully coherent with paleoclimate conditions expected for the different stages. We conclude that described use of shellfish resources by Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in Southern Spain started ~150 ka and were almost contemporaneous to Pinnacle Point (South Africa), when shellfishing is first documented in archaic modern humans.

El profesor Juan Maluquer de Motes y la investigación protohistórica en el curso inferior del río Ebro

La publicación en 1954 y 1958 de los Estudios Críticos 1 y JI dedicados al poblado de la primera Edad del Hierro del Alto de la Cruz (Cortes de Navarra) supuso, sin ningún género de dudas, el arranque de la sistematización de la secuencia cultural y poblacional del área del valle medio del Ebro en el período correspondiente al Bronce Final y las fases más antiguas de la Edad del Hierro.

El profesor Juan Maluquer de Motes y los estudios sobre Tartessos

La investigación sobre Tartessos fue siempre una de la líneas de trabajo favoritas del Prof. Maluquer de Motes, quien, en el momento de definir la que constituyó su última gran línea de investigación, el programa PIP (Programa de Investigación Protohistórica), prestó una especial atención al estudio de las comunidades prerromanas de Andalucía y Extremadura, especialmente tartesias e iberas, destacando entre los trabajos publicados en este marco las intervenciones de Ma . E. Aubet en la necrópolis de Setefilla (Lora del Río, Sevilla), y del propio Maluquer de Motes en el palacio-santuario de Cancho Roano (Zalamea de la Serena, Badajoz).

Estudio fenologico de varias especies del genero Cystoseira en Mallorca

En el presente trabajo realizamos un estudio de las variaciones tanto desde el punto de vista morfológico como reproductor, sufridas por varias especies del género Cvstoseira, a lo largo del año. Las observaciones fueron realizadas mensualmente desde febrero de 1978 a enero de 1979 en cuatro localidades de la isla de Mallorca.