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Effects of Alcohol on EEG Activity: A Systematic Review Focused on Sex-Related Differences in Youth
No full textBackground: Most electroencephalographic (EEG) investigations on alcohol have focused on adults, and scarce data is available about the potential of EEG measurements to detect young people at high-risk, as well as, to understand possible sex differences in alcohol impact on the brain. Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore sex-related differences in EEG among young people with alcohol misuse, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and offspring of families with AUD. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Review protocol was registered in Prospero (ID: CRD42024511471). After article selection process and quality assessment, 25 studies were included in our review. The search included participants between 12 and 30 years old with problematic alcohol consumption, as defined by DSM, AUDIT, or specific alcohol misuse questionnaires. Results: It seems that beta was generally higher in young males with AUD, and they usually exhibited greater interhemispheric connectivity (interHC), whereas young females with AUD tended towards enhanced intraHC. P3 appears to be particularly sensitive to alcohol misuse, with males typically exhibiting a lower amplitude than young females. Other event related potentials (ERPs) such as N415, P640, and the error-related negativity (ERN) lacked sufficient methodological support to draw conclusions regarding sex differences, N340 and P540 suggested avenues for expanding research on memory processing, indicating differences in amplitude between males and females. Conclusion: Considering sex variables in clinical research will enhance our understanding of alterations in brain function and structure with the goal of tailoring treatment strategies for AUDThis study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs, code 2022I004 to P.S.-P.), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE, code PID2022-137601OA-I00 to P.S.-P.) and Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (project reference: UFV2022-41 to R.D.M.-F.
“Como fieles y leales vasallos hacen a su señor”. Tensiones con la monarquía y retórica nobiliaria en Navarra, ca. 1200-1350
No full textEste trabajo se enmarca en el proyecto I+D de la
Agencia Estatal de Investigación. PID2022-138387NB-I00 Minores. Construir la
memoria de las élites periféricas en la corona de Castilla y el reino de Navarra. s. x-xv
Aspects of symmetries throughout the String Theory Moduli Space
No full textTesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física Teórica. Fecha de Lectura: 16-09-2025Presentada como un compendio de artículos, esta tesis explora distintos aspectos de los espacios de módulos en teoría de cuerdas, guiándose por el papel fundamental de las simetrías para revelar propiedades físicas y dinámicas del espacio-tiempo. Las simetrías, desde la mecánica clásica hasta la gravedad cuántica, han sido herramientas esenciales para formular teorías coherentes.
Dentro del marco del Programa Swampland, una de las conjeturas más aceptadas sostiene que no pueden existir simetrías globales exactas en ninguna teoría consistente de gravedad cuántica. Esta idea se puede reformular mediante restricciones topológicas a los espacios de compactificación permitidos, lo cual lleva a la Conjetura de Cobordismo. Según esta conjetura, toda configuración en gravedad cuántica debe permitir una frontera del espacio-tiempo. Si existen cargas adicionales de cobordismo, esto predice la existencia de defectos capaces de trivializar dichas cargas y permitir que el espacio-tiempo termine.
Los cinco primeros artículos de la tesis se dedican a implementar esta conjetura a nivel de teoría efectiva de campos, a través de las llamadas soluciones de Cobordismo Dinámico. En estos modelos, las fronteras del tipo “end of the world” (ETW) de codimensión 1 surgen como singularidades a distancia finita en el espacio-tiempo, donde los campos escalares divergen hacia puntos infinitamente alejados en el espacio de campos. Estas soluciones permiten estudiar límites a distancia infinita en los espacios modulares y explorar con precisión las restricciones del Swampland, como la Conjetura de la Distancia.
Se presentan ejemplos explícitos con uno o varios escalares divergentes, lo cual permite analizar diferentes regiones del espacio de módulos mediante branas ETW individuales o redes de branas intersectantes. Un caso concreto incluye la exploración del espacio de módulos de estructuras complejas de variedades Calabi-Yau de cuatro dimensiones en compactificaciones de M-theory con flujo. Las singularidades a distancia infinita que aparecen allí se describen mediante divisores normales que se intersecan, clasificados por la teoría de Hodge asintótica, y su realización física se da mediante branas ETW etiquetadas por exponentes críticos.
En la parte final de la tesis se estudia la evolución del concepto de simetría hacia el marco de simetrías generalizadas, descritas en términos de operadores topológicos definidos sobre subvariedades de distintas codimensiones, con reglas de fusión que pueden ser no invertibles. En el sexto artículo, se analiza la categoría de defectos topológicos que conmutan con el flujo espectral y con la simetría superconforme N=(4,4) en modelos sigma no lineales sobre K3. Se muestra que, aunque algunos modelos específicos de K3 presentan infinitos defectos simples o incluso un continuo, en puntos genéricos del espacio de módulos esta categoría se trivializa.
Tras una breve introducción sobre la motivación y los fundamentos de la teoría de cuerdas, la tesis ofrece una visión general del Programa Swampland y del papel de los espacios de módulos, con especial énfasis en los modelos de K3. Finalmente, se resumen los resultados principales obtenidos en los artículos y se discuten futuras líneas de investigació
China as an Intercultural Partner: Obstacles to EU Effective Communication
No full textThe following lines aim to provide some insights into the misunderstandings that may arise in dialogue between Europeans and Chinese. To this end, we present a brief analysis of European and Chinese communication customs and practices, with a particular focus on high-level political meetings. These are situations generally highly ritualized and where cultural differences are perhaps most evident. These could also be extrapolated to other types of meetings, such as those held for commercial and economic purposes. The aim is to offer a perspective that helps us identify the features of intercultural communication between Europe and China, since in both cases they respond to practices that have been developing over centuries and, therefore, cannot be regarded as nonexistent or insignificant.This research is a result of the project “China Horizons: Dealing with a Resurgent China”
(DWARC) (grant no. 101061700) funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe
research and innovation programm
Novel Pd-decorated graphite electrodes for perfluorooctanoic acid degradation in aqueous phase
No full textPerfluorinated alkyl substances, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have become a major environmental threat due to their high persistence in the environment, and their chronic toxicity. Electrochemical degradation has great potential for PFOA degradation, due to the combination of oxidation reactions over the anode, which initiate the degradation through elimination of the terminal carboxylic group, and reduction reactions on the cathode, responsible for the molecule defluorination. A previous work demonstrated the key role of the cathode in PFOA defluorination. Hence, this study investigated novel Pd-decorated cathodes for PFOA transformation. These Pd/C cathodes, with nominal palladium loadings ranging from 0.25 to 1 mg, were synthesized by wetness impregnation of commercial graphite sheets (C), followed by calcination and reduction. Pd acted as electrocatalyst, enhancing the reduction reactions and therefore PFOA defluorination. Two primary reaction mechanisms were identified in PFOA degradation: (i) polymerization of PFOA and its intermediates on the cathode surface, followed by defluorination catalyzed by Pd clusters; and (ii) sequential oxidation-reduction steps, each resulting in the loss of two fluor and one carbon from the molecule treated in each step. Under the optimal operating conditions (PFOA0: 100 mg/L, Na2SO4: 0.5 g/L, j: 5 mA/cm2, T: 25ºC and pH0: 4), 91.04 % TOC removal and 76.1 % F- release were reached after 120 min using the highest Pd load. Pd-1 cathode was stable over 10 reaction cycles, demonstrating the feasibility of this material for PFOA degradation in aqueous phaseComunidad de Madrid the financing obtained through project IntensiFlu, associated to an Attraction of Research Talent - Cesar Nombela contract (2023-T1/ECO-29062). Also, an especial recognition to SGL Carbon for providing samples of the SIGRACELL PV15 bipolar plates used as support. Alicia L. Garcia-Costa would like to thank the French Embassy in Spain for the concession of a short-research visit grant managed by Campus France to perform the electrochemical oxidation experiments at LG
Magnetic helicity, weak solutions and relaxation of ideal MHD
No full textWe revisit the issue of conservation of magnetic helicity and the Woltjer-Taylor relaxation theory in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in the context of weak solutions. We introduce a relaxed system for the ideal MHD system, which decouples the effects of hydrodynamic turbulence such as the appearance of a Reynolds stress term from the magnetic helicity conservation in a manner consistent with observations in plasma turbulence. As by-products we answer two open questions in the field: We show the sharpness of the L3 integrability condition for magnetic helicity conservation and provide turbulent bounded solutions for ideal MHD dissipating energy and cross helicity but with (arbitrary) constant magnetic helicityWe thank the anonymous referee for useful comments which improved the readability of the paper. D.F. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D(CEX2019‐000904‐S and by the PID2021‐124195NB‐C32. He was also partially supported by CAM through the Line of excellence for University Teaching Staff between CM and UAM. D.F. was also partially supported by the ERC Advanced Grant 834728. S.L. was supported by the ERC Advanced Grant 834728. L. Sz. was supported by ERC Grant 724298‐DIFFINCL. Daniel Faraco from Grants RED2022‐134784‐T and RED2018‐102650‐T funded by MCIN/AEI
Role of Inflammatory and Proresolving Mediators in Endothelial Dysfunction
No full textExcessive local inflammation is a common mechanism in many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms. In endothelial cells, inflammatory cytokines such as interferons, tumour necrosis factor alpha or interleukins increase oxidative stress and contractile prostanoids and the expression of adhesion molecules that reduce nitric oxide (NO) availability and bind leucocytes, thereby impairing endothelial function. Despite this evidence, anti-inflammatory therapies are not yet indicated for the treatment of most CVD. Resolution of inflammation is mediated by a family of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) that act on cognate G protein–coupled receptors to limit immune cell infiltration and initiate tissue repair. SPMs, generated from omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, belong to four major families: lipoxins, resolvins, protectins and maresins. SPM receptors are expressed in immune and vascular cells where they regulate important processes such as phagocytosis and polarization, production of cytokines, NO and prostacyclin, and modulation of smooth muscle cell phenotype. Growing evidence in animal models demonstrates that activation of SPM receptors can protect vascular function and structure and provide beneficial effects in various CVD. We will review recent advances in the role of inflammation and SPMs in vascular (dys)function in hypertension, atherosclerosis, and aortic aneurysmsWork from the author's laboratory was supported by grants SAF2016-80305P and PID2020-116498RB-I00, funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and by ‘ERDF A
way of making Europe’; Comunidad de Madrid (B2017/BMD-3676 AORTASANA) FEDER-a way to build Europe; Fundación Española de Arteriosclerosis (Beca FEA 2021 Investigación Básica en Arteriosclerosis);
CiberCV Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CiberCV CB16/11/00286, CiberCV CB16/11/00257, CiberCV CB16/11/00333 and CiberCV CB/11/00222); the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 954798; and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (AC23_2/00044) under the umbrella of the Partnership Fostering a European Research Area for Health (ERA4Health) (GA N° 101095426 of the EU Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme
Insults, threats, and curses on the battlefield: reprimands between allies in the Iliad
No full textAlgunas arengas de la Ilíada, caracterizadas por la acumulación de insultos,
amenazas y maldiciones, admiten un análisis como macro actos de habla de reprimenda. Estos
macro actos de habla presentan una estructura y unas estrategias lingüísticas semejantes. La
descortesía de estas reprimendas está normalizada y, por tanto, resulta aceptable tanto para
el hablante como para el interlocutor. Se trata de una descortesía institucional que se sirve
de la humillación del interlocutor como recurso para reafirmar en él los valores del ejército al
que perteneceIn the Iliad, certain harangues characterized by the accumulation of insults, threats and
curses, can be analyzed as macro-speech acts of reprimand. These macro-speech acts show both a
similar structure and similar linguistic strategies. The impoliteness of these reprimands is normalized
and thus acceptable to both speaker and interlocutor. It is an institutional impoliteness that uses the
humiliation of the interlocutor as a mean of reaffirming the values of the army to which he belongsEste trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto “Actos de habla indirectos e interacción en Griego Antiguo” (PID2021-122489NB-I00
Health and environmental dietary impact: Planetary health diet vs. Mediterranean diet. A nationwide cohort in Spain
No full textBackground: Plant-based diets, such as the Planetary Health Diet (PHDI) and the Mediterranean Diet (Med), offer notable advantages for human and planetary health. However, knowledge on the PHDI's benefits is limited, particularly in Southern European countries where the Med is culturally rooted and is an environmentally sustainable dietary pattern. Objective: to evaluate the association of both PHDI and Med with mortality and assess their environmental burden in the adult population of Spain. Methods: Data were taken from the study on Nutrition and Cardiovascular Risk in Spain (ENRICA) comprising 13,105 participants representative of the Spanish adult population. The PHDI score (0–140 points) was based on 15 food groups, while adherence to Med was assessed with the 14-item MEDAS score (0–14 points). Environmental impact was assessed using the SHARP-ID database (including greenhouse gas emissions and land use). Analyses were performed with Cox regression and adjusted for main confounders. Results: During a mean 14.4-year follow-up, 1157 all-cause deaths occurred. The mortality hazard ratio (95 % CI) for the highest vs lowest tertile of the PHDI score was 0.78 (0.66, 0.91) but reached a plateau level at 90 points of PHDI. For the MEDAS, the corresponding results for the highest vs lowest tertile was 0.79 (0.68, 0.93) with a continuous inverse dose-response association. Adherence to some components of the PHDI (fruits, dairy, and unsaturated oils) and of MEDAS (nuts, and low consumption of soda and pastries) was independently and significantly associated with lower mortality. Results remained robust in sensitivity analyses. In terms of environmental impact, both plant-based diets had similar low footprints, with dairy and meat products being the largest contributors. Conclusion: In this large cohort of Spanish adults, higher adherence to the PHDI and MEDAS was similarly associated with lower all-cause mortality and showed comparable low environmental impactThis work was supported by the Carlos III Health Institute, the Secretary of R+D+I; the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund (FIS grants 20/00896; 23/00079); National Agency of Research (CNS2022-135623); Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC 2018-02069I to MSP); Comunidad de Madrid, European Regional Development Fund (“FACINGLCOVID-CM” project. Funding REACT EU Program). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip
Landscape, environmental, and socioeconomic impacts of an invasive bird species: The Yellow-Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) in the natural park Salinas de San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia, Southeastern Spain)
No full textThe yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) increased its population throughout the 20th century in its worldwide distribution area. In the Salinas de San Pedro del Pinatar, the population increased from having two breeding pairs in 1993 to 676 pairs in 2010 and from a wintering population of approximately 100–200 individuals in the 1980s to 1500–2000 individuals recorded in the 2010s, which has led to changes in habitats due to guano deposition, bird predation, incidents involving workers, and salt production. The objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of L. michahellis on the landscape, habitats, waterfowl, salt production, and workers, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of control activities. Censuses of wintering L. michahellis have been carried out between 1990 and 2021, of nesting aquatic birds between 1994 and 2021, and nests and eggs of L. michahellis have been eliminated between 2000 and 2021. The result has been a decrease in pairs of L. michahellis, recovery of waterfowl populations, colonization of new bird species, absence of incidents with workers, and reduction in damage to salt production. Importantly, to reach a definitive solution, measures should be adopted to prevent L. michahellis from accessing the main sources of human food: urban solid waste dumps, aquaculture farms, and fish discardsThis research was funded by the LIFE funds of the European Union, through the LIFESALINAS
Project (LIFE17 NAT/ES/000184) for the Conservation of Habitats and Waterfowls in the
SCI and SPA ES0000175 “Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar