Eduardo Zamacois: attività editoriale e opera letteraria

Eduardo Zamacois (Pinar del Río, 1873- Buenos Aires, 1971) was a main actor of the spanish’s literature and edition movement from the first third of the 20th century. He was the founder of magazines that had a big impact like “Germinal”, introductive of the sicalipsis (“La Vida Galante”) or so innovative that deserved an special chapter in the history of literature (“El Cuento Semanal” e “Los Contemporáneos”). With this work, it is intended to recreate the most significant stages from his autobiography adventure including the new information that offers his non before published letters exchange with his last sentimental partner. As a writer, his work was very popular in his homeland, translated to the world and reissued in Ibero-America. His literature work is based in three different phases. He began with the use of gallant literature (with books like La enferma, Punto negro) and took an adventure with the pays of mystery and irony (El otro, El misterio de un hombre pequñito, La opinion ajena) to finally focused in a narrative style of a realistic kind, that includes social critique (Las raíces). His last published novel in Spain is a portrait of Madrid during its long siege by the nationalist troops (El asedio de Madrid), a profound tribute to the people’s heroism and a declaration of love to the capital, that was his place of residence for a long time. While his exile, that took him to Cuba, New York and Buenos Aires, he worked in the radio, the dubbing industry and in finishing his most detailed bibliography, Un hombre que se va, a valuable document of that time.

La Ragione violenta di Ramiro Ledesma Ramos. Fascismo e pensiero conservatore in Spagna

Aunque esta tesis puede leerse desde diferentes perspectivas, tiene una voluntad fundamental: explicar, desde la metodología propia de la historia conceptual, la racionalidad específica del llamado fascismo español. Centra su interés en la figura de Ramiro Ledesma Ramos (1905-1936), fundador del primer movimiento fascista español. Ledesma ideó un proyecto de modernización de España que sólo podía pasar por la organización de un Estado total. Trató de crear un movimiento de masas de corte fascista con capacidad para fundar un Estado total capaz de ser una alternativa viable al liberalismo republicano y al socialismo. El fascismo español emergerá como una experiencia temporal propia de la modernidad. Buscará revitalizar y acelerar un proceso, el moderno, que a la luz de los jóvenes exaltados de principios de siglo se percibía como agotado y decadente. El planteamiento de Ledesma brotaba de la necesidad de combatir aquellas presuntas fuerzas degenerativas (liberalismo, comunismo, conservadurismo, etc.) de la historia contemporánea española para erigir una nueva modernidad basada en el renacimiento de la nación. Al mismo tiempo, se pretende poner en relieve la eficacia de la acción histórica planteada por el pensamiento reaccionario español. Bajo sus coordenadas, la nación jamás desarrollaría los rasgos sublimados de la política moderna europea. Jamás abandonó los pretendidos órdenes del derecho natural del clasicismo católico que, en última instancia, limitaban la potencia absoluta de cualquier soberano político. Esta particularidad histórica, arrastrada desde la primera modernidad, impedirá con obstinación cualquier oleada revolucionaria que supusiera la autonomización de la esfera política y por tanto, la instauración de un poder totalitario. De hecho, cuando se instauré la dictadura del Franco, a lo más que se llegaría, sería a un Estado mínimo, que bajo los presupuestos del tradicionalismo, dejaba a su suerte las dinámicas económicas.

Metaheuristics for Search Problems in Genomics - New Algorithms and Applications

In this thesis we made the first steps towards the systematic application of a methodology for automatically building formal models of complex biological systems. Such a methodology could be useful also to design artificial systems possessing desirable properties such as robustness and evolvability. The approach we follow in this thesis is to manipulate formal models by means of adaptive search methods called metaheuristics. In the first part of the thesis we develop state-of-the-art hybrid metaheuristic algorithms to tackle two important problems in genomics, namely, the Haplotype Inference by parsimony and the Founder Sequence Reconstruction Problem. We compare our algorithms with other effective techniques in the literature, we show strength and limitations of our approaches to various problem formulations and, finally, we propose further enhancements that could possibly improve the performance of our algorithms and widen their applicability. In the second part, we concentrate on Boolean network (BN) models of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). We detail our automatic design methodology and apply it to four use cases which correspond to different design criteria and address some limitations of GRN modeling by BNs. Finally, we tackle the Density Classification Problem with the aim of showing the learning capabilities of BNs. Experimental evaluation of this methodology shows its efficacy in producing network that meet our design criteria. Our results, coherently to what has been found in other works, also suggest that networks manipulated by a search process exhibit a mixture of characteristics typical of different dynamical regimes.

Luis Arana e i veterani di Euzkeldun Batzokija: la corrente ortodossa del nazionalismo basco

La tesi di Marco Perez intitolata “Luis Arana e i veterani di Euzkeldun Batzokija: la corrente ortodossa del nazionalismo basco”, può essere considerata come la biografia politica di uno dei personaggi più importanti del nazionalismo basco. Il lavoro di ricerca si centra fondamentalmente sull'ispiratore del nazionalismo euskaldun (e cofondatore del Partido Nacionalista Vasco) e della corrente che ne accompagnò e sostenne l'azione politica. Euzkeldun Batzokija fu il nome dato al primo circolo del PNV, fondato da Luis e Sabino Arana nel 1894. Successivamente, gli statuti del circolo e i suoi membri veterani furono presi come modello del nazionalismo primordiale (che si pretendeva definire sull'esempio dell'Ordine gesuita). Sul piano organizzativo la tesi si divide in sette capitoli che ricostruiscono il percorso politico di Luis Arana, dai primi documenti del 1879 fino alle ultime lettere inviate negli anni quaranta. Si tratta di un lungo periodo, che comprende momenti diversi della storia spagnola (dalle guerre carliste alla Guerra Civile spagnola) e del movimento aranista. In questo senso, sulla base di una generale e comparata riflessione sul nazionalismo, si analizza il movimento basco nei suoi rapporti con la modernità. Una realazione costruita attraverso concetti “diacronicamente” legati a un passato mitico e leggendario e comunque subalterna ai rapporti di forza tra le correnti del PNV. La corrente ortodossa fece sempre riferimento al nazionalismo “originario” (definito dai fratelli Arana nei primi anni del movimento) che fu un'espressione regionale del nazionalcattolicesimo spagnolo. Fu proprio Luis Arana a ricordare la finalità religiosa ed etnica del nazionalismo basco, respingendo qualsiasi aggiornamento teorico e organizzativo del PNV, intesi come una grave violazione dell'ortodossia aranista.

A multiparental cross population for mapping QTL for relevant agronomic traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

Multiparental cross designs for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in crops are efficient alternatives to conventional biparental experimental populations because they exploit a broader genetic basis and higher mapping resolution. We describe the development and deployment of a multiparental recombinant inbred line (RIL) population in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) obtained by crossing four elite cultivars characterized by different traits of agronomic value. A linkage map spanning 2,663 cM and including 7,594 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was produced by genotyping 338 RILs with a wheat-dedicated 90k SNP chip. A cluster file was developed for correct allele calling in the framework of the tetraploid durum wheat genome. Based on phenotypic data collected over four field experiments, a multi-trait quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was carried out for 18 traits of agronomic relevance (including yield, yield-components, morpho-physiological and seed quality traits). Across environments, a total of 63 QTL were identified and characterized in terms of the four founder haplotypes. We mapped two QTL for grain yield across environments and 23 QTL for grain yield components. A novel major QTL for number of grain per spikelet/ear was mapped on chr 2A and shown to control up to 39% of phenotypic variance in this cross. Functionally different QTL alleles, in terms of direction and size of genetic effect, were distributed among the four parents. Based on the occurrence of QTL-clusters, we characterized the breeding values (in terms of effects on yield) of most of QTL for heading and maturity as well as yield component and quality QTL. This multiparental RIL population provides the wheat community with a highly informative QTL mapping resource enabling the dissection of the genetic architecture of multiple agronomic relevant traits in durum wheat.