Spain Archives

Understanding tomato plant metabolism for sustainable production

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Drs Joaquin Medina and Laura Carrilo investigate the metabolic responses of tomato plants to nitrogen stress, aiming to understand specific gene expressions that could then be targeted for future plant breeding

Historically, crops have been domesticated without limiting their access to nutrients or water. Since these varieties did not need efficient nutrient absorption and distribution mechanisms, they are poorly adapted to a sustainable agricultural system which limits the need for excess fertiliser. Drs Laura Carrillo and Joaquin Medina of the Centre of Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP) in Madrid, Spain, investigated the […]

Advanced chemiresistive materials for wireless sensor networks

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When exposed to gases and vapours of certain chemicals in their surrounding environments, chemiresistive materials can change their electrical resistance, which makes them incredibly useful as sensors for air pollution. Through her work, Dr Esther Hontañón, a researcher at the Spanish Council of Research (CSIC) in Madrid, explores how the latest advances in materials science and 3D printing technology can […]

Open range cattle herding in Texas: A very European affair

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Cowboys on horseback are an icon of Texas. The commonly accepted scenario is that cattle herding, first introduced into Mexico, expanded northward via the arid central highlands. However, Professor William E. Doolittle (University of Texas at Austin), has revealed a much more important route via the tropical lowlands of Mexico’s east coast. Cattle were first introduced to this region by […]

Intergenerational mobility and school inequality in the US

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a group of school children outside school

Children of different income groups attend schools of different quality. To understand how unequal school opportunity contributes to differences in social mobility and human capital, Professor Jean Hindriks, Head of the Economics School of Louvain at UCLouvain, Belgium, and Dr Andreu Arenas, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona, have extended the classical Becker-Tomes-Solon parent-child transmission model to […]

Investigating paedomorphism in the evolution of L. saxatilis

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Littorina saxatilis is a species of marine gastropods found on the intertidal rocky shores of Western Europe.

Littorina saxatilis (rough periwinkle) is often used as an example of adaptation to different ecological niches, with ecotypes adapted to life at different levels of the seashore. Professor Emilio Rolán-Alvarez and his colleagues at the University of Vigo, Spain, investigate whether one ecotype may have evolved from another by paedomorphosis. Their results indicate that, while there is some evidence in […]

Rural gap, socio-economic processes and regional disparities in Spain

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Prof Luis Camarero and Prof Jesús Oliva have conducted several research projects on the demographic and socioeconomic transformations of southern European rural areas. Here, we take a closer look at the idea of the ‘rural gap’, seen as a cumulative effect of different socio-economic processes and regional disparities. The researchers examine demographic aspects of a widening rural gap, also linking […]

Creating social value in online communities through digital activism

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Researchers have examined how the Internet and social media create and enable digital activism.

Dr Petros Chamakiotis, Associate Professor of Management at ESCP Business School, Dr Dimitra Petrakaki, Reader in Information Systems at the University of Sussex Business School, and Prof Niki Panteli, Professor of Digital Business at Royal Holloway University of London, investigate social value creation in online communities. They explore the types of social value emerging from the online health community MedicineAfrica […]

Asthenospheric flow and plate tectonics in the Antarctic

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New geophysical research has provided evidence to support a 40-year-old theory about the effects of the split in the Earth’s tectonic plates which separated South America and Antarctica. In studies carried out by Manuel Catalán for the Spanish Royal Naval Observatory and Yasmina M. Martos, for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the University of Maryland (UMD) in the […]

Diagnosing Sjögren’s syndrome with salivary gland ultrasound

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Dr Juan Carlos Nieto-González from the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón has provided support for the utilisation of salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) in diagnosing and assessing Sjögren’s syndrome in several published research papers. When compared with other diagnostic tools, SGUS is non-invasive, widely available in hospitals, and does not use any ionising radiation. It can also be used to diagnose […]

Textile-embedded microcapsules: The future of drug delivery

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Over the years, textiles have been improved, with regards to their durability and functionality.

Research on textiles has come a long way, with numerous examples of textiles having bifunctional characteristics. Advancements in the area show the incorporation of microcapsules on textiles, containing active principles with antimicrobial, cosmetic, or even drug characteristics. Prof Manuel Jose Lis Arias, at the Terrassa Institute of Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, has been […]