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L’obra Cordiale quattuor novissimorum de Gérard de Vliederhoven ha tingut una prolífica trajectòria editorial ja des de la fase incunable tot arreu d’Europa, especialment en la zona occidental –no tant a la península Ibèrica. Abans d’aparéixer l’edició en castellà del saragossà Gonzalo García de Santa María en 1491, el text ja havia estat objecte de vint-i-tres edicions en diferents llengües. El text català de Bernardí Vallmanya va aparéixer el 1495, tot just després de la segona edició saragossana en castellà. Una segona edició barcelonina de principis de segle XVI –ara perduda– dona fe del ressò que aquest text va tenir al domini lingüístic català. L’objectiu central del present treball és rescatar de l’oblit aquesta traducció del Cordial de l’ànima per tal de posar-la a l’abast dels estudiosos de qualsevol camp d’investigació.

Hailstones in the clouds develop under various environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, wind, etc.), which impact the size and texture of the ice composing the hail. The stratified structures within a hailstone provide direct insight into the stages it underwent during its growth. In each region, the grains grow with numerous bubbles both inside them and along the grain boundaries (GBs). As hail takes shape, its grain size gradually increases while within the storm cloud and this growth continues even after it falls to the ground. Grain growth is a thermally activated process that modifies the structure of hail, influenced by the presence of bubbles and atmospheric contaminants accumulated within the cloud. This study examines the evolution of grain size in a cylindrical hailstone containing bubbles, employing theoretical equations and a Monte Carlo-based growth model. The computational results contribute to a better understanding of the interaction between GBs and pre-existing bubbles, thereby elucidating the grain size evolution in hailstone containing bubbles near the melting point. Additionally, the study assesses the significance of bubbles in retaining information about a storm within hailstones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical mechanisms behind the L-H transition have been experimentally studied in the TJ-II plasmas. The spatial, temporal and spectral structure of the interaction between turbulence and flows has been studied close to the L-H transition threshold conditions. The temporal dynamics of the turbulence-flow interaction displays a predator-prey relationship and both, radial outward and inward propagation velocities of the turbulence-flow front have been measured. Moreover, the turbulence scales involved in the energy transfer of the predator-prey process have been identified. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Identification of defective DNA structures is a difficult task, since small differences in base-pair bonding are hidden in the local structural variability of a generally random base-pair sequence. Defects, such as base mismatches, missing bases, crosslinks, and so on, occur in DNA with high frequency and must be efficiently identified and repaired to avoid dire consequences such as genetic mutations. Here, we focus on the detection of base mismatches, which is local deviations from the ideal Watson–Crick pairing rule, which may typically originate from DNA replication process, foreign chemical attack, or ionizing radiation. Experimental detection of a mismatch defect demands the ability to measure slight deviations in the free energy and molecular structure. We introduce different mismatches in short DNA hairpins (10 or 20 base pairs plus a 4-base loop) sandwiched between dsDNA handles to be used in single-molecule force spectroscopy with optical tweezers. We perform both hopping and force-pulling experiments to measure the excess free energies and deduce the characteristic kinetic signatures of the mismatch from the force–distance curves. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations lend support to the detailed interpretation of the experimental data. Such measurements, at the lowest sensitivity limits of this experimental technique, demonstrate the capability of identifying the presence of mismatches in a random complementary dsDNA sequence and provide lower bounds for the ability to distinguish different structural defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

lnteraction is essential to study Cognitive Development. From a tripolar neoconstructivist point of view; we urge the necessity to discuss the meaning of “interaction" and the methodological bases studying it. Some questions arise: where is the infant in Cognitive Developmental Psychology today?, what is the infant's influence on interaction and viceversa? what is the effect of different kinds of interaction on cognitive development?, what interactional types and conditions could be established and what are their effects they have on individual cognitive development?. Empírical data from one research carried out are presented as a brief example of research into and reflections about these questions. Using microgenetic method, the results show us the possibilities and limitations of studyng and understanding the influence of interaction on cognitive development.

Enhanced confinement is observed in neutral beam injector (NBI)-heated hydrogen discharges made in the stellarator TJ-II after the injection of a single cryogenic fuel pellet into the plasma core. In addition to the expected increase in electron density, ne, in the core after pellet injection (PI), the plasma diamagnetic energy content is seen to rise, with respect to similar discharges without PI, by up to 40%. Furthermore, the energy confinement time, τEdiag, as determined using a diamagnetic loop, is enhanced when compared to predictions obtained using the International Stellarator Scaling law [H. Yamada et al., Nucl. Fusion 45, 1684 (2005)] and the triple product, ne · Ti · τEdiag, exhibits a clear bifurcation point toward an improved confinement branch as compared to the branch product predicted by this scaling law. In general, once such a pellet-induced enhanced confinement (PiEC) phase has been established, it is characterized by steepened radial density gradients, by more negative plasma potential in the core, more negative radial electric fields, Er, across a broad plasma region, as well as by reductions in density and plasma potential fluctuations in the density gradient region. In addition, experimental observations show increased peaking of core radiation losses, this pointing to edge/core plasma decoupling. In parallel, neoclassical simulations of reference and PiEC plasmas predict increased particle and energy confinement times during a PiEC phase together with a more negative Er profile. Qualitative rather than quantitative agreement with experimental parameters is found, indicating that turbulence seems to play a significant role here. In summary, single cryogenic pellet injection facilitates the achievement of an enhanced operational regime that was previously not observed in NBI-heated discharges of the TJ-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.12.013 Byline: S. Mancebo Quintana (a), B. Martin Ramos (a), M.A. Casermeiro Martinez (b), I. Otero Pastor (a) Abstract: The aim of the present work is to design a model for evaluating the impact of planned infrastructures on species survival at the territorial scale by calculating a connectivity index. The method developed involves determining the effective distance of displacement between patches of the same habitat, simplifying earlier models so that there is no dependence on specific variables for each species. A case study is presented in which the model was used to assess the impact of the forthcoming roads and railways included in the Spanish Strategic Infrastructure and Transport Plan (PEIT, in its Spanish initials). This study took into account the habitats of peninsular Spain, which occupies an area of some 500,000 km.sup.2. In this territory, the areas deemed to provide natural habitats are defined by Directive 92/43/EEC. The impact of new infrastructures on connectivity was assessed by comparing two scenarios, with and without the plan, for the major new road and railway networks. The calculation of the connectivity index (CI) requires the use of a raster methodology based on the Arc/Info geographical information system (GIS). The actual calculation was performed using a program written in Arc/Info Macro Language (AML); this program is available in FragtULs (), a set of tools for calculating indicators of fragmentation caused by transport infrastructure (http://topografia.montes.upm.es/fragtuls.html). The indicator of connectivity proposed allows the estimation of the connectivity between all the patches of a territory, with no artificial (non-ecologically based) boundaries imposed. The model proposed appears to be a useful tool for the analysis of fragmentation caused by plans for large territories. Author Affiliation: (a) Transport Research Center (TRANSyT), Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain (b) Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain Article History: Received 14 July 2008; Revised 10 September 2009; Accepted 9 December 2009