Contributions to Science by Institut d'Estudis Catalans

FOREWORD

177 Vallmitjana M Ciència magazine, second period (1980–1991): Recovering normality for the Catalan scientific language

RESEARCH REVIEWS

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 Piqueras M, Guerrero R David Cardús (1922–2003), the physician of the space

113 Ciurana J, Ros J Inaugural ceremonies of the academic year 117 Guerrero R, Berlanga M An integrate ecogenetic study of minimal ecosystems: The microbial mats of Ebro Delta and the Camargue (Western Mediterranean)

FORUM AND FOCUS 141 Rovira L, Serrate-Casado L Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals on the basis of international visibility standards 151 Chica C Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment

HISTORICAL CORNER

Piqueras M 195 Ramon Casanova (1892–1968) and the pulse jet engine

NEWS AND VIEWS 199 Tomàs Salvà M Activities of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands 201

ANNUAL INDEXES (Volumes 4, 5, 6: years 2008, 2009, 2010)

159 Genescà M Ibérica magazine (1913–2004) and the Ebro Observatory 169 García-Lladó À, Montero-Pich Ò, Zarzoso A, Martínez-Vidal À Ciència magazine, first period (1926–1933): A project for the recovery and dissemination of the Catalan scientific heritage

OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL www.cat-science.cat http://revistes.iec.cat/contributions

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS CATALANS

Ramon Casanova Danés (Campdevàno 1892–Barcelona 1968)

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013 | pp 113-210

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE | VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia

ISSN 1575-6343 | E-ISSN 2013-410X | OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL | www.cat-science.cat

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013

OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL www.cat-science.cat | http://revistes.iec.cat/contributions

Instructions to authors Publication Board

GENERAL INFORMATION

Editor-in-Chief Ricard Guerrero, Biological Sciences Section, IEC

Contributions to Science is the international

Associate Editors Salvador Alegret, Science and Technology Section, IEC Ramon Gomis, Biological Sciences Section, IEC Editorial Office Managing Coordinator Carme Puche

cpuche@contributions.cat

Editors Mercè Piqueras, SCHCT-IEC mpiqueras@microbios.org

Mercedes Berlanga, University of Barcelona mberlanga@ub.edu

Carmen Chica, Barcelona cchica@microbios.org

Nicole Skinner, Imperial College, London, UK nico_skinner@hotmail.com

Wendy Ran, Wiesenttal, Germany ran.wendy@googlemail.com

Mary Anne Newman, New York, USA newm161@icloud.com

Javier del Campo, Univ of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada javier.delcampo@botany.ubc.ca

Digital Media Coordinator Jordi Rabascall, Estudi Puche S.L. jrabascall@contributions.cat

IT services Jordi Berenguer, Intergrid j.berenguer@intergrid.cat

Founded in 1999 by Salvador Reguant, Science and Technology Section, IEC Address

journal of the Biological Sciences Section and the Science and Technology Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC). It is an open access, peer-reviewed journal, published twice a year by the IEC. It publishes reviews on topics of the highest interest in all branches of sciences. It was first published in 1999. Aims and scope to Science is an open access journal that aims to promote the international dissemination of scientific research performed in Catalonia in any of its branches, both pure and applied. Contributions to Science also publishes research performed in countries with linguistic, cultural and historic links with Catalonia. It also publishes scientific articles of international standing related to all such territories, especially considered as a whole. The journal also covers studies performed in all parts of the world by scientists from such countries and articles based on lectures imparted by invited foreign scientists. Preference will be given to original articles in the form of critical reviews that deal with the state of the art of a scientific field of current interest, by one or several authors. Such articles should summarize the development, the present situation and, where possible, future perspectives of a research area in which the author or authors have participated directly. The journal will also publish articles, short communications, notes and news items of international interest on historical, economic, social or political aspects of research in Catalonia and its areas of influence.

Contributions

Contributions to Science

Publisher Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia www.iec.cat ISSN (print): 1575-6343 e-ISSN (electronic): 2013-410X D.L.: B. 36385-1999

This work including photographs and other illustrations, except where otherwise is indicated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work in any medium and format provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.

Institut d’Estudis Catalans Carme, 47 08001 Barcelona, Catalonia Tel. +34 932701620 Fax +34 932701180 Email: contributions@iec.cat

Handling of manuscripts Manuscripts should be sent to the Editorial Office through the journal’s web site. Please read the Instructions to Authors on the page P3 of each issue. Subscriptions Volume 9 (2 issues). Subscription orders should be sent to the Publishing Department. The subscription fee for two issues (including handling charges) is 75 Euros (VAT not included). Airmail charges are available on request. Publisher and Advertisements All business correspondence, reprint requests, requests for missing issues, and information on advertisements should be addressed to the Publishing Department. Disclaimer While the contents of this journal are believed to be true and accurate at the date of its publication, neither the authors and editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no guarantee, expressed or implied, with regard to the material contained therein. Institute for Catalan Studies The Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), academy of sciences and humanities, founded in 1907, is the top academic corporation of the territories of Catalan language and culture, and has been a full member of the International Academic Union since 1922. The IEC has 186 full or emeritus members from throughout the linguistic territory, and 72 corresponding members that represent our institution’s relations with the international scientific community, and has 28 filial societies of all fields of knowledge, with a total membership of around 10,000 across the whole territory. In addition, 111 local research centres also belong to it, and this shows how well grounded the research community is, throughout our cultural territory. The IEC is the central institution in the Catalan cultural world. It was set up in 1907 at the initiative of the Diputació de Barcelona to “establish here scientific study centres specialising and working not just in education, but in producing science and aiding research.” In the following years, the Institute set up its various science departments. The Philology Department, directed by Pompeu Fabra, played a key role in establishing the rules of the Catalan language.

General Contributions to Science publishes two kinds of articles, specialized reviews and general articles on scientific and technological research (see front cover). Submission of manuscripts Manuscripts submissions are preferably made online, at the journal’s website. Authors are asked to upload the items and provide associated metadata or indexing information to facilitate online searching and for the journal’s own use. Articles can be tracked at any time through the editorial process, and authors can participate in the copy-editing and proofreading of articles accepted for publication by logging in with the username and password provided. Contributions to Science does not charge publication fees. However, processing fees may be requested if the manuscript needs substantial languageediting and copyediting. The amount requested will not depend on the length of the manuscripts but on the time devoted to their editing. In special cases, processing fees can be waived. In no case will the acceptance of manuscripts depend on the authors possibility to pay processing fees. Format of manuscripts All contributions should be typed double-spaced (including references and figure legends) on pages not exceeding 30 cm in height (standard A4 is appropriate), with wide margins, and font (preferable Times New Roman) size not smaller than 12 points. If Greek letters (α, β, χ , et cetera) are required, use the “insert symbol” function to write them. It is the policy of the Journal to publish in English only (authors are recommended to have the manuscript thoroughly checked and corrected before submission). The Editors will warmly appreciate co-operation of authors in preparing papers in a manner that will facilitate the work of editing and publication. For research papers a self-explanatory abstract without reference to the text—in Catalan language, too—not exceeding 200 words should be provided. It is essential that the author responsible for post publication correspondence (the Corresponding author) should be identified on the manuscript. Manuscript organization The manuscript should begin with the following: 1. Title of the paper containing keywords pertaining to the subject matter. No abbreviations should be used in the title. 2. Author full names (including forenames and initials, if used) and their affiliations. If the publication originates from several institutes the affiliations of all authors should be clearly stated by using superscript numbers after the name and before the institute. 3. Postal address of the author to whom all correspondence (including preprints) is to be sent. Telephone and fax numbers as well as e-mail address should be included to speed up communication. 4. A summary (in English and Catalan languages) not exceeding 200 words. 5. A maximum of 5 keywords, which will be used for compiling the subject index. References References should be cited in the text in square brackets and listed at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. Papers not yet published but accepted by a journal may be cited with the journal’s name followed by “in press”. However, this practice is acceptable only if that author has at least received preprints of the paper. In all other cases, reference must be made to “unpublished data” or “personal communication”.

Accepted unpublished papers Same as above, but “in press” must appear instead of the volume and page numbers Books Miller JH (1972) Experiments in molecular genetics. 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York Book chapters Lo N, Eggleton P (2011) Termite phylogenetics and co-cladogenesis with symbionts. In: Bignell DE, Yves R, Nathan L (eds) Biology of termites: a modern synthesis, 2nd ed. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp 27-50 Electronic journal articles Citation of articles published in electronic-only journals must provide a DOI (preferable) or URL if they do not have traditional page numbers or electronic article identifiers. For all references, list the first eight authors and then add “et al.” if there are additional authors. Since references that are downloaded from online databases do not always show accents, italics, or special characters, the authors should refer to the PDF files or printed versions of the articles and correct accordingly the submitted manuscript. The journal titles should be abbreviated. Tables Tables should be compiled on separate sheets (one per page table) with a concise, descriptive title and numbered independently of the figures using Arabic numerals in the sequence in which they occur. Every table must be referred to in the text. In the text, the position for a table is to be marked by “Table...” in the middle of an extra line. The caption must explain in detail the contents of the table. As for the table itself, it must be written so that it can be read and understood without reference to the text. References to a table are to be handled in the same way as references to the text (see References). Figures Figures, including photographs should also be submitted on separate pages at the end of the article (new page for each figure). In addition, they must be submitted also in JPG separate files with a resolution of 300 dpi. Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers in the order of their appearance. A separate file of fine quality suitable for reproduction is required. Figures should not be larger than the manuscript page. Numbers and symbols inscribed must be large enough to be legible after reduction. If a figure comprises several separate parts, a single composite illustration containing all parts of the figure must be submitted. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain the required permissions to reproduce figures and other material that has been published previously, and the source should be always indicated in a reference. The permission must be obtained from the publishers or where they credited to third parties, from those third parties.

References should be in the following style:

Nomenclature, abbreviations and units Internationally standardized nomenclature should be used. Abbreviations and acronyms should be kept to a minimum and spelled out in full at first mention in both the summary and main text. Non-standard abbreviations should be avoided if they appear not more than three times in the text. Only SI units are to be used (SI = Système International d’Unités). If data with non-SI units are to be reported, they should be put in parenthesis behind the corresponding data in SI units.

Published papers Venugopalan VP, Kuehn A, Hausner M, Springael D, Wilderer PA, Wuertz S (2005) Architecture of a nascent Sphingomonas sp. biofilm under varied hydrodynamic conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol 71:2677-2686

Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to individuals that have contributed to the study and are not named as authors as well as information regarding funding sources should be included in this sections after the main text (before References).

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013

Volume 9 | Issue 2 | December 2013

OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL www.cat-science.cat http://revistes.iec.cat/contributions/

FRONT COVER

BACK COVER

The Ebro Delta, the third largest delta in the Mediterranean (320 km2), began to develop after the lglaciation and has expanded seaward since the Holocene period. A delta is a sedimentary body that marks the transition between continent and sea, where the morphology of the coastline can be modified very rapidly in response to fluvial and marine changes. In the Ebro Delta, the tendency of the coastline in the last few decades has been generally regressive. This is a result of the decrease in sediment input from the drainage basin, due to the construction of large water reservoirs (mainly during the 1960s) that retain much of the coarser material before it reaches the delta. It is a peninsula that penetrates into the sea about 30 kilometer, with a triangular form that the river has been creating with the materials that it drags along in it's path. It's ecosystem is vitality importance for the balance of the fauna and together with the mouth of the river Rhone, in the French Camarga, and the National Park of Doñana, the mouth of the Guadalquivir makes it important for conservation of the nature. In Ebro Delta contains especial microbial ecosystems, the microbial mats that occur all along the coast, in the narrow ephemeral ponds of the backshore, on the flanks of the storm inlets, and, most commonly, on the sand flats and channels of La Banya spit (40° 35′ N, 0° 40′ E). See issue Guerrero & Berlanga, pp. 117-139

Portrait of Ramon Casanova (1892–1968 In 1908, he started working at his family business, the metallurgic company La Farga (the “Foundry”) Casanova. Some authors have described Casanova as an engineer, but he never received formal university training; rather, he acquired his engineering skills on the job, performing the various tasks carried out by other workmen at the forgery. Casanova’s innovative ideas and inventions—most of them related to founding and to the emerging automobile and aviation industries—were extraordinary. While working for his family’s company, he introduced a metal stamping technology that made La Farga the first metallurgic company to produce stainless steel in Catalonia. For several years, La Farga was associated with Hispano-Suiza, a Spanish automotive and engineering firm based in Barcelona that produced luxury cars and airplane engines. in 1917, he patented his estatoreactor (the pulse jet engine). His talent was finally recognized when NASA’s US Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama) honored him with a display of his engine and a brief biography highlighting his brilliant career and ingenuity. A replica of Casanova’s pulse jet engine is also on display at the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia in Terrassa, a highly industrial city near Barcelona. It was donated by his widow, along with relevant documents related to the invention. See issue Piqueras, pp. 193-196

Volume 9 | Issue 2 | December 2013

Editorial Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ricard Guerrero Biological Sciences Section, IEC

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Salvador Alegret

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ramon Gomis

Science and Technology Section, IEC

Biological Sciences Section, IEC

EDITORIAL BOARD Joaquim Agulló, Technical University of Catalonia • Josep Amat, Technical University of Catalonia • Francesc Asensi, University of Valencia • Damià Barceló, Spanish National Research Council (Barcelona) • Carles Bas, Institute of Marine Sciences-CSIC (Barcelona) • Pilar Bayer, University of Barcelona • Xavier Bellés, Spanish National Research Council (Barcelona) • Jaume Bertranpetit, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) • Eduard Bonet, ESADE (Barcelona) • Josep Carreras, University of Barcelona • Joaquim Casal, Technical University of Catalonia • Alícia Casals, Technical University of Catalonia • Manuel Castellet, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Josep Castells, University of Barcelona • Jacint Corbella, University of Barcelona • Jordi Corominas, Technical University of Catalonia • Michel Delseny, University of Perpinyà (France) • Josep M. Domènech, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Mercè Durfort, University of Barcelona • Marta Estrada, Institute of Marine Sciences-CSIC (Barcelona) • Gabriel Ferraté, Technical University of Catalonia • Ramon Folch, Institute for Catalan Studies • Màrius Foz, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Jesús A. Garcia-Sevilla, University of the Balearic Islands • Lluís Garcia-Sevilla, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Joan Genescà, National Autonomous University of Mexico • Evarist Giné, University of Connecticut (USA) • Joan Girbau, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Pilar GonzálezDuarte, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Francesc González-Sastre, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Joaquim Gosálbez, University of Barcelona • Albert Gras, University of Alacant • Gonzalo Halﬀter, National Polytechnic Institute (Mexico) • Lluís Jofre, Technical University of Catalonia • Joan Jofre, University of Barcelona • David Jou, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Ramon Lapiedra, University of Valencia • Àngel Llàcer, University Clinic Hospital of Valencia • Josep Enric Llebot, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Jordi Lleonart, Spanish National Research Council (Barcelona) • Xavier Llimona, University of Barcelona • Antoni Lloret, Institute for Catalan Studies • Abel Mariné, University of Barcelona • Joan Massagué, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA • Federico Mayor-Zaragoza, Foundation for a Culture of Peace (Madrid) • Adélio Machado, University of Porto (Portugal) • Gabriel Navarro, University of Valencia • Jaume Pagès, Technical University of Catalonia • Ramon Parés, University of Barcelona • Àngel Pellicer, New York University (USA) • Juli Peretó, University of Valencia • F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Harvard University (USA) • Norberto Piccinini, Politecnico di Torino (Italy) • Jaume Porta, University of Lleida • Pere Puigdomènech, Spanish National Research Council (Barcelona) • Jorge-Óscar Rabassa, National University of La Plata (Argentina) • Pere Roca, University of Barcelona • Joan Rodés, University of Barcelona • Joandomènec Ros, University of Barcelona • Xavier Roselló, Technical University of Catalonia • Claude Roux, University of Aix-Marseille III (France) • Pere Santanach, University of Barcelona • Francesc Serra, Autonomous University of Barcelona • David Serrat, University of Barcelona • Boris P. Sobolev, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia • Carles Solà, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Joan Anton Solans, Technical University of Catalonia • Rolf Tarrach, University of Luxembourg • Jaume Terradas, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Antoni Torre, Obra Cultural, L’Alguer, Sardinia • Josep Vaquer, University of Barcelona • Josep Vigo, University of Barcelona • Miquel Vilardell, Autonomous University of Barcelona • Jordi Vives, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Volume 9 | Issue 2 | December 2013

Contents FOREWORD Ciurana J

113

Inaugural ceremony of the academic year

Ros J

115

Inaugural ceremony of the academic year

RESEARCH REVIEWS Guerrero R, Berlanga M

117

An integrate ecogenetic study of minimal ecosystems: The microbial mats of Ebro Delta and the Camargue (Western Mediterranean)

Rovira L, Serrate-Casado L

141

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals on the basis of international visibility standards

Chica C

151

Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment

Genescà-Sitjes M

159

Ibérica magazine (1913–2004) and the Ebro Observatory

García-Lladó À, Montero-Pich Ò, Zarzoso A, Martínez-Vidal À

169

Ciència magazine, first period (1926–1933): A project for the recovery and dissemination of the Catalan scientific heritage

Vallmitjana M

177

Ciència magazine, second period (1980–1991): Recovering normality for the Catalan scientific language

Piqueras M, Guerrero R

183

Piqueras M

195

Ramon Casanova (1892–1968) and the pulse jet engine

Tomàs Salvà M

199

Activities of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands

201

ANNUAL INDEXES (Volumes 4, 5, 6: years 2008, 2009, 2010)

FORUM AND FOCUS

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY David Cardús (1922–2003), the physician of the space

HISTORICAL CORNER

NEWS AND VIEWS

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.171 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Pròleg

Foreword

Jaume Ciurana

DONO LES GRÀCIES A L’INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS CATALANS (IEC) per l’oportunitat de fer el pròleg, juntament amb el president de l’Institut, d’aquest número de CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE, una eina excel·lent per difondre la ciència catalana arreu del món. El 2013, la Secció Filològica de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans està celebrant els cent anys de les Normes ortogràfiques, una commemoració que fa justícia a un fet cabdal per a la consolidació i supervivència de la nostra llengua. El català sobreviurà en la mesura que tingui coses interessants a dir i, òbviament, en el terreny del coneixement. El coneixement no s’adquireix per preparar-nos per la vida; ha de ser part important de la nostra vida. El desig d’aprendre i descobrir i l’encoratjament del propi sentit de curiositat i creativitat ens haurien d’acompanyar al llarg de la nostra vida. Allò que diuen de «l’arbre de la paciència d’amargues arrels, però de dolços fruits» és, en bona mesura, aplicable al coneixement, ja que genera una gran satisfacció de forma progressiva i contribueix al creixement intel·lectual i humà, per no parlar dels seus efectes saludables en qualsevol societat oberta al progrés. Al llarg de la història, molts filòsofs s’han referit a una teoria del coneixement: per a Plató, el coneixement és l’aliment de l’ànima; Aristòtil sosté, però, que els grans coneixements engendren grans dubtes. Les institucions i les administracions públiques no poden –ni volen– quedar excloses d’aquestes reflexions. Facilitar les estructures, els recursos i els mitjans per a la promoció i la divulgació científica forma part de les nostres competències més bàsiques, fins i tot, en les pitjors circumstàncies econòmiques. Quan el físic Lluís Torner, director de l’Institut Català de Ciències Fotòniques, va fer el pregó de les festes de la Mercè (el festival anual que té un origen religiós, amb la celebració de Nostra Senyora de la Mercè, compatrona de la ciutat, juntament amb Santa Eulàlia) al setembre de 2012, va il·lustrar molt bé aquesta mateixa idea. Va referir-se als Estats Units, on, el 1863, es va fundar l’Acadèmia Nacional de Ciències, quan aquell país es trobava en plena guerra civil, i quan el model de societat americà estava en joc. L’any 1946, en la més dura post-guerra, Alemanya va fundar l’Institut Max-Planck, una joia preuada de la recerca científica. A Catalunya, el 1977, recuperada la democràcia, les administracions van començar a fer veritables esforços per concedir a la cultura un paper molt més important que el que havia tingut durant la dictadura. La cultura esdevé un revulsiu per si mateix, però també es comença a percebre com a motor de canvi econòmic i social. Aquest és el cas de Barcelona, on la cultura és un eix vertebrador, un projecte a compartir per tothom. Per a l’Ajuntament, cultura vol dir creativitat, cohesió, capitalitat, comunitat. L’actual seu de l’IEC, la Casa de Convalescència, es troba en un barri de Barcelona, el Raval, que conté una gran diversitat cultural que en fa la seva singularitat. Pot comparar-se a un magnífic mosaic fet per la suma de petites tessel·les. Cadascuna amb la seva pròpia identitat i amb una importància que augmenta pel fet d’estar en contacte amb altres tessel·les. O per dir-ho en llenguatge digital, cadascun dels més de 300 projectes que conformen el

I THANK THE INSTITUTE FOR CATALAN STUDIES (IEC) for the opportunity to introduce, together with the President of the IEC, this issue of the journal CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE, an excellent instrument to disseminate Catalan science around the world. In 2013, the Philological Section of the IEC has commemorated the centennial of the Normes ortogràfiques (Rules of Spelling), a celebration that does justice to an important event for the consolidation and survival of our language. Catalan will survive as long as it has interesting things to say, including of course in the field of knowledge. Knowledge is not acquired to prepare us for life; it is in and of itself an important part of our lives. The desire to learn and to discover and the encouragement of one’s own sense of curiosity and creativity should accompany us throughout our lives. What the old proverb says about patience being a tree whose roots are bitter but its fruits are very sweet can be applied to a great extent to knowledge. In fact, knowledge progressively generates tremendous satisfaction and contributes to intellectual and humane growth, not to mention its healthy effects on any society open to progress. Throughout history, philosophers have referred to a theory of knowledge. For Plato, knowledge was the food of the soul, while Aristotle argued that a great wealth of knowledge generates doubts. Public administrations and institutions cannot be excluded from these reflections, nor do they want to be. Providing the structures, resources, and means to promote and popularize science are among our most basic competencies, even under the worst economic circumstances. When the physicist Lluís Torner, director of the Catalan Institute of Photonic Sciences, gave the opening speech of the Barcelona celebrations of La Mercè (the annual festival that has a religious origin, with the celebration of Our Lady of Grace, co-patroness of the city along with Santa Eulàlia) in September 2012, he well illustrated that same idea. He referred to the United States, where the National Academy of Sciences was founded in 1863, during that country’s Civil War, when the American model of society was at stake. He also cited Germany, which in 1946, during its difficult postwar period, founded the Max Planck Institute, a precious jewel of scientific research. In Catalonia, in 1977, after the recovery of democracy, the administrations initiated efforts aimed at granting culture a more important role in society than it had played during the post Spanish Civil War dictatorship (1939–1975). Culture becomes a stimulus in itself, but it also begins to be perceived as an engine of economic and social change. This is the case in Barcelona, where culture is a linchpin, a project to be shared with its citizens. For the City Council, culture means creativity, cohesion, capital status, and community. The headquarters of the IEC are located in El Raval, a neighborhood of Barcelona that harbors a great cultural diversity, which makes it unique. It can be compared to a gorgeous mosaic made up of small tiles, each one having an identity of its own but with an importance that increases in the context of the surrounding tiles. Or, to express this idea in today’s digital language, each

Ajuntament de Barcelona

www.cat-science.cat

Barcelona City Council

113

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116

Inaugural ceremonies of the academic year

of the around 300 projects that make up cultural Raval can be considered as a pixel that when viewed together forms a clear image of a neighborhood of thriving creativity and innovation. Great figures in the culture of Barcelona were born in the Raval; they include the writers Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Terenci Moix, and Jaume Fuster, and the painter Antoni Clavé, whose work is displayed in many museums internationally and whose theatrical designs have appeared on stages around the world. El Raval has a long history of culture, which the City Council seeks to bring to light and to promote. Surely it is among the neighborhoods with the largest contribution to the cultural GDP of Catalonia. Major cultural facilities including the Liceu (Opera House), the MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art), the CCCB (Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture), the IEC and other scientific academies, the Library of Catalonia, and the Film Library. Indeed, El Raval is a Golden Mile of Barcelona. In 2014 we will commemorate the third centenary of the defeat of Catalonia in the war for the Spanish crown. Catalonia, which had supported the claim of Austrian Archduke Charles to the throne of Spain, lost the Catalan constitutions under the rule of Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain. The ancient Hospital de la Santa Creu, which is now home to the Library of Catalonia, was the hospital during the siege of Barcelona. Its book of records has allowed historians to glean many facts about the siege and the people who participated in it. We have learned, for example, that the people who fought in Barcelona included the English, Irish, Flemish, Portuguese, Italian, Hungarians, and even a Latvian. In the history of Catalonia, 1714 means the fight of the Catalan people to defend their own legal system from the arbitrariness of a foreign absolutist king. In 2014, Catalonia must show that it is a nation that is not afraid to pursue its freedoms in all their forms and that we do not fear our future, but hope to regain our rights. It is a crucial moment in the history of Catalonia as a nation. The democratic struggle for the freedom of our country is undergoing a moment of particular significance. It is our responsibility to exercise a right for which many generations of Catalans fought before us: we must be able to build the main elements of our future, the structures of state. In this sense, the IEC is truly representative. It is a living example of Catalan identity, with an active role in the most important debates of our society. The great nations of our time have been able, even in the darkest moments of their history, to recognize the strength of culture and knowledge. Either Catalonia will exist as a nation of culture and knowledge or not at all. Neither wars nor heroic deeds will achieve our aims. Once more, however, we need tenacity and self-confidence, dignity, and pride. We have a commitment, a responsibility but, above all, a great desire to establish a new national and social contract for Catalonia. If Barcelona is the beacon of Catalonia, then the IEC, as the Academy of sciences and humanities of the territories of Catalan language and culture, is and must continue to be the beacon of Catalan intellectual life, here and around the world.

Raval cultural són com un píxel, que fan més nítida la imatge d’un barri que bull de creativitat i innovació. Grans noms de la cultura de Barcelona van néixer al Raval; entre ells hi ha els escriptors Manolo Vázquez Montalbán, Terenci Moix i Jaume Fuster, i el pintor Antoni Clavé, que té obres en museus de tot el món i que va fer dissenys per al teatre que han aparegut en escenaris de molts països. El Raval té una llarga historia de cultura, que l’Ajuntament vol mostrar i promoure. És segurament el barri de Catalunya que fa una aportació més gran al PIB cultural del país. S’hi concentren grans equipaments culturals com ara el Liceu (Edifici de l’Òpera), el Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), el Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), l’IEC, la Biblioteca de Catalunya o la Filmoteca. Realment és la Milla d’or cultural barcelonina. El 2014 commemorarem el tricentenari de la derrota de Catalunya en la guerra de Successió. Catalunya, que havia donat suport a la reclamació de l’arxiduc austríac Carles al tron d’Espanya, va perdre les constitucions catalanes sota el govern de Felip V, el primer rei Borbó d’Espanya. L’antic Hospital de la Santa Creu, que avui és la seu de la Biblioteca de Catalunya, va ser hospital del setge de Barcelona. Gràcies al Llibre de Registres, els historiadors han pogut saber moltes coses del setge i de la gent que hi va participar. Hem sabut, per exemple, que, entre la gent que va lluitar a Barcelona, hi havia anglesos, irlandesos, flamencs, portuguesos, italians, hongaresos i fins i tot un letó. En la història de Catalunya, el 1714 representa la lluita del poble català per defensar un sistema jurídic propi davant de les arbitrarietats d’un monarca forà i absolut. El 2014, Catalunya ha de demostrar que és una nació que no té por d’exercir la llibertat en totes les seves formes i que no tenim por del futur, ans esperança de recuperar els nostres drets. És un moment cabdal de la història de Catalunya com a nació. La lluita democràtica per la llibertat del nostre país viu moments d’especial transcendència. Tenim la responsabilitat d’exercir un dret pel qual tantes generacions de catalans han lluitat abans que nosaltres: hem de ser capaços de bastir els elements principals del nostre futur, allò que en diem estructures d’Estat. I en aquest sentit, l’IEC és ben representatiu. És un viu exemple de catalanitat, amb un paper actiu en els grans debats de la nostra societat. Les grans nacions dels nostres temps, fins i tot en els moments més foscos de la seva història, han sabut reconèixer la força de la cultura i el coneixement. Catalunya serà un país de cultura i coneixement o no serà. Avui no és qüestió de guerres ni de gestes heroiques per aconseguir-ho, però sí que ens cal, altre cop, tenacitat i confiança, dignitat i orgull. Tenim el compromís, la responsabilitat, però sobretot, la immensa il·lusió de forjar, entre tots, un nou contracte nacional i social per a Catalunya. Si Barcelona és el far de Catalunya, aleshores l’IEC, com a Acadèmia de les ciències i les humanitats dels Països Catalans, és i ha de seguir sent-ho, el far de la vida intel·lectual catalana, aquí i arreu del món.

Jaume Ciurana és el cinquè tinent d’alcalde de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona, que presideix l’alcalde Xavier Trias. Aquest text està basat en la conferència que Ciurana va impartir a l’IEC el 28 d’octubre de 2013, en la cerimonia inaugural del curs acadèmic 2013-2014.

www.cat-science.cat

Jaume Ciurana is the fifth Deputy Mayor of the Barcelona City Council, whose president is Mayor Xavier Trias. This text is based on Ciurana’s speech at the IEC on 28 October 2013, during the inaugural ceremony of the academic year 2013.

114

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.171 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Pròleg

Foreword

Joandomènec Ros

AGRAEIXO A L’AJUNTAMENT DE BARCELONA, que és el «propietari» del nostre magnífic edifici, el pròleg d’aquest número de CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE. El curs acadèmic 2013–2014 varia considerablement d’altres anys en relació a les activitats de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC). Una raó per a aquesta diferència és un motiu d’esperança, malgrat el fet que el 2014 ens uneix a la commemoració d’una derrota: la caiguda de Barcelona el 1714, i per tant el començament d’un període marcat per les suppressions de les institucions, privilegis, i les antigues cartes de la majoria dels territoris de la Corona d’Aragó. El 2014 Catalunya podria estar prop de recuperar la llibertat perduda el 1714 i assolir la seva pròpia funció a Europa, de la qual mai no hem estat absents. En aquest context, l’IEC promou una sèrie d’activitats per conformar un futur des d’una perspectiva acadèmica. Des de la seva fundació, el 1907, l’IEC ha estat una estructura d’estat avant la lettre. Va ser fundat per Enric Prat de la Riba per «produir ciència i promoure la recerca per tal de conèixer tot el que el país fa per sí mateix; configurar un centre d’investigació amb rigor i mètode capaç de compensar les deficiències degudes més a la falta de recursos i organització que a la manca de persones competents; assessorar el govern, com un nucli científic, en tot allò relacionat amb les necessitats urgents d’aquest país». L’IEC ha estat sempre fidel als seus principis i conviccions nacionals, actuant al servei del país i de la llengua. Coherent amb els seus objectius acadèmics, l’IEC ha desenvolupat —sol o en col·laboració amb altres institucions— conferències i debats sobre diverses qüestions relacionades amb el procés de sobirania actualment en marxa. Al llarg del curs passat, l’IEC va expressar la seva disconformitat amb les diverses administracions en temes varis, incloenthi la proposta d’una Llei Orgànica espanyola en la millora de la qualitat de l’educació, que interfereix amb la competència de la Generalitat de Catalunya i intenta normalitzar els currículums educatius sense tenir en compte les diferències culturals i el fet que altres llengües a banda del castellà són oficials en diversos territoris i han de ser conservades. També va expressar el seu desacord amb el canvi de nom, per part de Parlament aragonès, del català parlat a la franja oriental d’Aragó amb l’acrònim LAPAO (de «llengua aragonesa pròpia de l’àrea oriental») per no anomenarlo pel seu propi nom, «català», i el Decret d’abril de 2013 del Govern de les Illes Balears, que, en augmentar l’ús vehicular de la llengua espanyola i la disminució del català, significa la fi del model de llenguatge utilitzat durant més de trenta anys a les escoles de les Illes. Ni les circumstàncies econòmiques desfavorables ni nous desitjos de llibertat política que sorgeixen de la societat catalana, o l’àrdua tasca de recordar veritats ignorades han obstaculitzat les activitats fonamentals de l’IEC, que són la recerca i estudi, reunions científiques, publicacions i projectes acadèmics d’àmbit nacional i internacional. Entre les activitats que mereixen menció especial tenim el centenari de la publicació de les Normes orto-

I THANK THE CITY COUNCIL OF BARCELONA, as the “landlord” of our magnificent building, for the opportunity to introduce this issue of CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE. The academic year 2013–2014 will greatly differ from other years regarding the activities of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC). One reason for this difference is that of hope, despite the fact that in 2014 we join in the commemoration of a defeat: the fall of Barcelona in 1714 and thus the beginning of a period marked by the suppression of institutions, privileges, and the ancient charters of most of the territories that made up the Crown of Aragon. In 2014, Catalonia might be on the way to regaining the freedom lost in 1714 and to achieving its own role in Europe, from which we have never been absent. In this context, the IEC promotes a number of activities that can contribute to shaping that future from an academic perspective. Since its foundation in 1907, the IEC has been a structure of state avant la lettre. It was founded by Enric Prat de la Riba to “produce science and promote research in order to know all that the country calls its own; to set up a center of methodical research that can make up for the deficiencies caused more by a lack of resources and organization than by a lack of competent people; to advise the Government, as a scientific core, in all aspects that can meet the urgent needs of this country.” The IEC has always been faithful to its principles and national convictions, acting in the service of both the country and the language. Fully consistent with its academic objectives, the IEC has developed— alone or in collaboration with other institutions—lectures and debates on many issues related to the sovereignty process that is currently underway. Throughout the past academic year, the IEC has expressed its disagreement with various administrations in several matters, including the bill of an organic Spanish law on the improvement of the quality of education, which interferes with the competency of the Catalan Autonomous Government and attempts to standardize educational curricula without taking into account cultural differences or that languages other than Spanish are official in several territories and should be preserved. It has also objected to the renaming, by the Aragonese Parliament, of the language spoken in eastern-Aragon with the acronym LAPAO (in English, “Aragon’s own language of the eastern part”), so as not to call it by its proper name, “Catalan”. And the Decree of the Balearic Government, in April 2013, which by increasing the everyday working use of the Spanish language and decreasing that of Catalan means the end of the language model used for over 30 years in the schools of the Balearic Islands. Neither the IEC’s unfavorable economic circumstances nor the new desires for political freedom that have arisen within Catalan society, nor the arduous task of remembering ignored truths have hindered the IEC in performing its fundamental activities, which are research and study, scientific meetings, publications, and academic projects of national and international scope. Among the activities that deserve special mention are the centen-

Institut d’Estudis Catalans

www.cat-science.cat

Institute for Catalan Studies

115

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116

Inaugural ceremonies of the academic year

nial of the publication of the Catalan Normes ortogràfiques (Spelling Rules, 1913), aimed at standardizing Catalan orthography, and the closing celebrations of the Catalan Society for Biology’s centennial (see CONTRIB SCI 9:1-3, 43-49 [2013]). Other commemorations have been devoted to the 50th anniversary of the publication of Nosaltres, els valencians (We, the Valencians), a historical, political essay by the Valencian author Joan Fuster, who presented an overview of the past and present of Valencia from the cultural point of view of a Catalan-speaking territory outside of Catalonia. The year 2013 has been also the sixth centenary of the death of Bernat Metge (1346–1413), a Catalan writer who held a position at the court of John I of Aragon and who might have been involved in the death of that king, an event that inspired Metge to write Lo somni (The Dream), a masterpiece of Catalan medieval literature. These and other celebrations contribute to opening the doors of the IEC to audiences probably otherwise unaware of the full range of its academic activities. IEC members, together with those associated with its five specialized sections and twenty-eight affiliated societies, carry out research, either alone or in collaboration with other institutions. These areas of research cover almost all fields of the sciences and the humanities, but they mainly focus on Catalan aspects. The headquarters of the IEC are located at the Convalescence Home of the former Hospital de la Santa Creu. The building belongs to the City Council of Barcelona, and the IEC has its perpetual usufruct. It is located in El Raval, an area of Barcelona where learned societies, the Library of Catalonia, and other cultural institutions are also located, but also an area that during the 20th century suffered significant social deterioration. The City Council, working together with those institutions, has tried to preserve El Raval as a place where history and culture go hand by hand, while at the same time recognizing the social needs of a neighborhood that is a crucible of cultures, populated by people who arrived in Barcelona from many countries, as evidenced by the many languages heard on its streets. The publications of the IEC, both those that are strictly scientific and those aimed at a general audience, whether published in Catalan or in other languages, serve to introduce the IEC into scientific and academic circles. Most of the Institute’s journals, magazines, and other publications operate according to the open access initiative and are thus freely available online. The IEC Press, surely the first scientific publisher in Catalan, is not a commercial operation and considers the dissemination of its publications to be a priority. The online version of the Dictionary of the Catalan Language as well as other IEC dictionaries and thematic glossaries receive more than three million visits per month. I cannot conclude without applauding the new epoch of CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE, the journal jointly published by the two Science Sections sections of the IEC. The new version of the journal, with changes in its format and scope, nonetheless preserves their major aim: to disseminate the findings of scientific research carried out in Catalonia and other territories where Catalan is spoken, as well as those of research performed in other parts of the world by scientists from those territories. As such, the journal seeks to be a leading vehicle of dissemination of Catalan science and culture around the world.

gràfiques catalanes (1913) per estandarditzar l’ortografia catalana i la cloenda de les celebracions del centenari de la Societat Catalana de Biologia (vegeu CONTRIB SCI 9:1-3, 43-49 2013). Altres commemoracions es van centrar en el 50è aniversari de la publicació de Nosaltres, els valencians, un assaig històric, polític de l’autor valencià Joan Fuster, que presenta una visió general del passat i el present del País Valencià des del punt de vista cultural d’un territori de parla catalana fora de Catalunya. L’any 2013 també ha estat el sisè centenari de la mort de Bernat Metge (1346–1413), escriptor català que va ocupar un càrrec a la cort de Joan I d’Aragó i podria haver estat implicat en la mort del rei, un esdeveniment que va inspirar Metge a escriure Lo somni, obra mestra de la literatura catalana medieval. Aquestes i altres celebracions han contribuït a obrir les portes de l’IEC a audiències probablement ignorants de totes les seves activitats acadèmiques. Els membres de l’IEC, així com les cinc seccions especialitzades i les vint-i-vuit associacions afiliades duen a terme programes de recerca, ja siguin individuals o en col·laboració amb altres institucions. Les àrees de recerca cobreixen gairebé tots els camps de les ciències i les humanitats, tot i que es centren principalment en aspectes catalans. La seu de l’IEC es troba a la Casa de Convalescència de l’antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. L’edifici pertany a l’Ajuntament de Barcelona, i l’IEC en té usdefruit perpetu. Es troba al Raval, una zona de Barcelona on també s’ubiquen societats científiques, la Biblioteca de Catalunya i altres institucions culturals, en un espai, però, que durant el segle xx va esdevenir socialment degradat. Juntament amb les esmentades institucions, l’Ajuntament ha intentat conservar el Raval com un lloc on la història i la cultura van de la mà, sense oblidar, però, les necessitats socials d’un barri que és un gresol de cultures, habitat per persones que arribaren a Barcelona des de molts països, com ho demostren les moltes llengües que se senten pels seus carrers. Les publicacions de l’IEC, tant les estrictament científiques com aquelles destinades a un públic general, ja siguin editades en català o en altres llengües, serveixen per introduir l’IEC en cercles científics i acadèmics. La majoria de revistes i altres publicacions de l’IEC s’han adherit a la iniciativa d’accés obert i són d’accés lliure per Internet. El servei de publicacions de l’IEC, que segurament és el primer editor científic en català, no és una editorial comercial i considera una prioritat la difusió de les seves publicacions. La versió en línia del Diccionari de la llengua catalana, així com altres diccionaris i glossaris temàtics de l’IEC reben més de tres milions de visites mensuals. No puc acabar sense aplaudir la nova època de CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE, la revista publicada conjuntament per les dues Seccions de Ciències l’IEC. La nova versió de la revista, amb canvis en el seu format i abast temàtic, manté, no obstant això, el seu objectiu principal: difondre el resultat de la investigació científica feta a Catalunya i en els països catalans, així com d’aquells científics dels territoris catalans que treballen en altres parts del món. La revista intenta ser un vehicle important de difusió de la ciència i la cultura catalana arreu del món.

Joandomènec Ros, catedràtic d’ecologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, és president de l’IEC. Aquest text es basa en el discurs que va pronunciar a l’IEC el 28 d’octubre de 2013, durant l’acte inaugural del curs acadèmic 2013-2014.

www.cat-science.cat

Joandomènec Ros, full professor of ecology at the University of Barcelona, is the president of the IEC. This text is based on his speech at the IEC on 28 October 2013, during the inaugural ceremony of the academic year 2013–2014. 116

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 113-116

RESEARCH REVIEWS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.172 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

An integrate ecogenetic study of minimal ecosystems: The microbial mats of Ebro Delta and the Camargue (Western Mediterranean)§ Ricardo Guerrero,1 Mercedes Berlanga2 1 University of Barcelona and Institute for Catalan Studies, Barcelona, Catalonia. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia

Correspondence: M. Berlanga Department of Microbiology and Parasitology Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona Av. Joan XXIII, s/n. 08028 Barcelona, Spain Tel. +34-934024497 Fax +34-934024498 E-mail: mberlanga@ub.edu § This paper is dedicated to Lynn Margulis, unforgettable teacher of one of us, unforgettable partner of the other.

Summary. Microbial mats are vertically stratified microbial communities that develop

in the physical-chemical microgradients established at the interfaces of water and solid substrates. They form laminated multilayered biofilms, which as a result of their metabolism notably alter those microgradients. As highly diverse, physically and chemically active systems, microbial mats stabilize the sediment surface and prevent erosion of the surfaces where they are established. Lithified remains of microbial mats, known as stromatolites, may be very old. In fact, the oldest known microfossils are stromatolites that date back from more than 3500 million years ago. Therefore, microbial mats are considered to have constituted early ecosystems, probably the earliest ones. Although they now reach high degrees of complexity, during the Archean Eon they must have been very simple and thus fit well with the concept of a minimal ecosystem. Microorganisms in mats or in complex biofilms form coordinated functional communities that are much more efficient than mixed populations of floating planktonic organisms. Microbial mats resemble tissues formed by animals and plants in both their physiological cooperativity and in the extent to which they protect the “organism” from variations in environmental conditions, by a kind of homeostasis provided by the matrix or the boundaries of the mat. The survival value of this strategy in the milieu of the early Earth can be considered the main clue to the resilience of life against adverse environmental conditions. Furthermore, the “invention” of the ecosystem has promoted recycling of the scarce and limited chemical elements on the surface of our planet, thus allowing the evolution of other, more diverse forms of life and the persistence of life as a planetary phenomenon. Keywords: microbial mats · minimal ecosystems · earliest ecosystems · structured bioceno-

ses · populations diversity and dynamics · prokaryotic diversity Resum. Els tapissos microbians són comunitats microbianes estratificades verticalment

que es desenvolupen en microgradients físico-químics establerts en les interfícies d’aigua i substrats sòlids. Formen biopel·lícules (biofilms) amb diverses capes laminades, les quals, a causa del seu metabolisme, alteren intensament els microgradients. Aquests sistemes actius tan diversos físicament i química estabilitzen la superfície del sediment i prevenen l’erosió de les superfícies dels llocs on s’han establert. Les restes litificades dels tapissos microbians, conegudes com estromatòlits, poden ser molt antigues. De fet, els estromatòlits són els microfòsils més antics coneguts, i daten de fa més de 3500 milions d’anys. Per tant, els tapissos microbians han estat considerats com ecosistemes primerencs, probablement els més primitius. Tot i que en l’actualitat poden assolir un alt grau de complexitat, en l’Eó Arqueà haurien estat sistemes senzills i això encaixa amb el concepte d’ecosistema mínim. Els microorganismes en els tapissos o en biowww.cat-science.cat

117

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

films complexos constitueixen comunitats funcionals coordinades molt més eficients que les poblacions mixtes d’organismes planctònics que neden lliurament en l’aigua. Els tapissos microbians s’assemblen als teixits formats per animals i plantes tant en la seva cooperació fisiològica com en el fet de protegir “l’organisme” de les variacions en les condicions ambientals, mitjançant una espècie d’homeòstasi proporcionada per la matriu del biofilm o els límits del tapís. El valor de supervivència d’aquesta estratègia a la Terra primerenca pot considerar-se la principal raó de la resiliència de la vida davant les condicions ambientals adverses. A més, podem proposar que la “invenció” de l’ecosistema ha permès el reciclatge dels elements químics, escassos i limitats, sobre la superfície del nostre planeta, cosa que ha permès l’evolució d’altres i més diverses formes de vida, i la persistència de la vida com a un fenomen planetari. Paraules clau: tapissos microbians · ecosistemes mínims · ecosistemes primitius · biocenosis

estructurades · diversitat i dinàmica de poblacions · diversitat procariota

Microbial mats: a model study of microbial ecosystems

MICROORGANISMS PROVIDE THE BEST EVIDENCE of the enormous versatility of life and its ability to adapt itself to the variety of conditions found on Earth. The Earth’s habitats present complex gradients of environmental conditions that include extreme variations in temperature, light, pH, pressure, salinity, and both inorganic and organic compounds. Each geochemical scenario features its own set of resources that can be physiologically exploited by microorganisms (for example, peat lands, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, soil, and deep subsurface sediments). Bacteria and Archaea have an essential role in the Earth’s systems. They are ubiquitous, have enormous metabolic and physiological versatility, and are essential to virtually all biogeochemical cycling processes. Although the number of bacterial species described thus far is low (less than 7000), the total number of bacterial species that inhabit the Earth is estimated to be several million [53]. The approaches used in the enrichment and isolation of bacterial species establish artificial conditions under which only the “fittest” microorganisms can successfully compete. Furthermore, the conditions that allow microbial growth in culture are not easily determined, and their identification requires not only ability and persistence on the part of the researcher but also a fair amount of luck. Thus, an alternative strategy was proposed, discussed in two articles published in 1986 that set the tone for a new era in microbial ecology: one by Olsen et al. [Annu Rev Microbiol 40:337-365] and the other by Pace et al. [Adv Microbial Ecol 9:1-55]. Those authors independently described a framework around which the study of microbial diversity and community structure could proceed outside the confines of the agar plate. The central tenet was that all cellular organisms could be detected and potentially identified in situ based solely on their rRNA, even organisms that have yet to be isolated in axenic culture. As a result of these two papers, over the past four decades there has been an exponential increase in the amount of environmental sequence data that have become available. www.cat-science.cat

The development of cultivation-independent molecular techniques such as genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics has generated a plethora of new and more comprehensive observations of microorganisms in nature. But they have also left many questions unanswered: How many microbial species exist? What is the real cause of this diversity? What does all that microbial diversity do? How do ecosystems ultimately work? The first, albeit very preliminary, step in tackling these questions is to identify the different components of the various microbial communities. The resulting information must then be complemented with data on community function (metabolism, lifestyle), interactions, spatial and temporal dynamics, and the response to environmental variables. Molecular analysis of different habitats has thus far revealed different levels of microbial diversity. For instance, in agricultural soils worldwide, 20 bacterial phyla have been detected; approximately 12 phyla are present in the waters of the Sargasso Sea (North Atlantic); the adult human gastrointestinal tract has eight phyla, and healthy human skin eight phyla as well. But these are the environments that contain the lowest number of phyla, although each one is highly diverse at the strain and species levels [29]. Understanding the ecology of microorganisms is inarguably one of the most compelling intellectual challenges facing contemporary ecology. In most, but not all ecosystems, light is the primary energy source. Consequently, biological communities are usually stratified horizontally, because of light extinction with depth. Tropical forests, planktonic communities, stratified lakes, and microbial mats can be considered as analogous forms at different scales. The photosynthetic layer expands for many meters in tropical forests; from a few meters to a few centimeters in multilayered planktonic microbial com118

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

Fig. 1. Vertical structuring in several ecosystems in which light is the primary energy source results in the same ”ecological theater” but one in which diﬀerent actors play their roles at diﬀerent scales, e.g., the forest ecosystem, the planktonic microbial community in a lake, and the microbial mat [27]. SRB: sulfate-reducing bacteria. (Photographs and sketches by R. Guerrero.)

munities; and for a few millimeters in microbial mats (Fig. 1). Autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms are major components of ecosystems. Autotrophs are producers. They fix energy either from light (phototrophs) or from light-independent chemical reactions (chemotrophs) and obtain nutrients from simple inorganic substances such as water, carbon dioxide, and nitrates. Heterotrophic organisms are consumers. They use, rearrange, and decompose the compounds synthesized by autotrophs but are unable to produce their own nutrients, instead obtaining them by consuming preformed organic matter. Microbial mats are layered microbial communities made up of accretionary, cohesive microbial populations that grow at sediment–water (occasionally sediment–air) interfaces [27]. Their occurrence is confined to several habitats such as coastal zones with an intermittent input of seawater [13,15,23,30], thalassic wetlands [19], diverse geothermal environments [32], and in polar regions [70]. Mats develop in the physicalchemical microgradients established at the interfaces of water and solid substrates, forming laminated multilayered biowww.cat-science.cat

films whose metabolism notably alters those microgradients. As highly diverse, physically and chemically active systems, microbial mats stabilize the sediment surface and prevent erosion of the surfaces where they are established. They can be several millimeters to a few centimeters thick, and develop along a variety of microgradients established between water and sediments. Lamination within the mats is evident, even macroscopically. It is the result of a light gradient along the vertical axis and of physicochemical microgradients due to the metabolism of different prokaryotic populations. In Spain, microbial mats have been described in several different environments: Ebro Delta, Tarragona (temporarily inundated sand flat); Salinas Bonmatí, Santa Pola, Alicante; Lagunas and Salinas de Cabo de Gata, Almería; Salinas de San Rafael, Almería; Fuente de Piedra, Málaga (hypersaline lagoon); Sanguijuela, Albacete (endorheic lagoon); Saladar, Albacete (hypersaline lagoon); Alcahozo, Ciudad Real (hypersaline lagoon); Cerro Mesado, Ciudad Real (hypersaline lagoon); Las Yeguas, Ciudad Real (lagoon rich in Mg2+); Laguna de Tirez, Toledo (hypersaline lagoon); Gallocanta, Zara119

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 2. (A,B) Sampling location in the Ebro Delta (images from the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia). (C) Macroscopic aspect of a microbial mat; area covered: ca. 1 m2 (photo by M. Berlanga). (D,E) Sampling location at the Camargue, Rhone Delta (images from Google Earth), (F) Macroscopic aspect; area covered: ca. 1 m2 (photo by M. Berlanga).

tivity in the range of 59–105 mS·cm–l, salinity from 40 to 75‰, and pH from 7.5 to 9.0 [47]. The microbial mats in the area of Salins-de-Giraud, in the Camargue (La Camargue, southern France, 04º 11′ E to 04º 57′ E; 43º 40′ N to 44º 40′ N) are located inside commercial salterns, which are nowadays actively exploited. These salterns are a succession of water concentration ponds at the final part of the main “bouche” of the Rhone River. In the first series, seawater is concentrated to about 50–130‰ total salinity and is used for the storage of pre-concentrated seawater. The pond has an area of about 10 km2, with the depth of the water column never exceeding 20 cm. The underlying sediment is mostly composed of a mixture of sand and clay. In the second series, salinities are in the range of 130–300‰, while in the final series of ponds the salinity increases to 340– 350‰ (Fig. 2).

goza (endorheic and hypersaline lagoon); Chiprana, Zaragoza (hypersaline lagoon); Carravalseca, Álava (endorheic hypersaline lagoon); Font de la Puda, Banyoles, Girona (sulfurous spring); Fumarolas del Teide, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (hot springs); El Charco de la Mareta, El Médano, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (hypersaline pond); Playas de Sotavento, Península de Jandía, Fuerteventura (sand flats) [18]. Exhaustive investigations have been carried out in the Ebro Delta (NE Spain) and in the Camargue (Rhone Delta, southern France). The Ebro Delta, the third largest delta in the Mediterranean (320 km2), began to develop after the glaciation and has expanded seaward since the Holocene period. A delta is a sedimentary body that marks the transition between continent and sea, where the morphology of the coastline can be modified very rapidly in response to fluvial and marine changes. In the Ebro Delta, the tendency of the coastline in the last few decades has been generally regressive. This is a result of the decrease in sediment input from the drainage basin, due to the construction of large water reservoirs (mainly during the 1960s) that retain much of the coarser material before it reaches the delta. Microbial mats in the Ebro Delta occur all along the coast, in the narrow ephemeral ponds of the backshore, on the flanks of the storm inlets, and, most commonly, on the sand flats and channels of La Banya spit (40° 35′ N, 0° 40′ E). Microbial mats are situated 1–7 cm below the water surface during flooded periods. The water covering these microbial mats ranges in temperature from 12 to 30 °C, with conducwww.cat-science.cat

Microbial mats and lithification: an ancient strategy of life The formation of microbial mats is an extremely ancient biological phenomenon, as the early Earth was probably covered by communities of different types of prokaryotes. Microbial mats must have dominated Archean landscapes. Their presence is best documented in the fossil record in laminated sedimentary rock structures called stromatolites. These organo-sedimentary structures are produced by trapping, binding, and/or precipitation as a result of the growth 120

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

and metabolic activity of microorganisms [53,54,65]. The persistence and abundance of stromatolites throughout most of geological time attest to the evolutionary success of microbial mat ecosystems. Stromatolites are found in rocks as old as 3500 million years from the Warrawoona Group of Western Australia [40] and Buck Reef Chert, South Africa [68]. Depending on the prevailing environmental conditions and the activities of indigenous microbial populations, individual cells can facilitate the crystal nucleation of different minerals. Mineral precipitation may be promoted by: (i) changes in microenvironmental chemical conditions and hence saturation state as a result of microbial metabolic processes, or (ii) nucleation on the surfaces of microorganisms (e.g., the cell envelope is very important for calcification) or on microbial products. Visscher et al. 2000 [78] correlated sulfate-reduction activity with high zones of CaCO3 precipitation in modern marine

stromatolites, although the biogeochemical processes of accretion and mineralization (i.e., lithification) in mat systems are poorly understood. Modern microbial mats are usually viewed as analogues of ancient stromatolites, but a major difference between them is that the latter have lithified laminae that form domal or columnar structures. Why ancient stromatolites and â&#x20AC;&#x153;modern living stromatolites,â&#x20AC;? such as those from Shark Bay in Western Australia and the Exuma Sound in Bahamas, form lithified laminae, whereas other microbial mats do not is still unresolved. Microbial mats from the Ebro Delta undergo accretion and partial lithification but do not form lithified laminae [80]. Figure 3D is an impressive electron micrograph showing the progressive and rapid conversion of active living matter (the cyanobacterium Microcoleus actively reproducing in the top layer) to lithified organic matter at a depth in the mat of only 0.6 mm.

Fig. 3. (A) A 3500-million-year-old stromatolite from Warrawoona, Western Australia, (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA). (B) Modern living stromatolites from Shark Bay, Western Australia. (C) Microbial mats landscape in the Camargue (photo by M. Berlanga). (D) Composite scanning electron micrographs of a microbial mat sample from the Ebro Delta, obtained in the backscattering electron mode. The vertical cross-section is 0.6 mm thick (photo by J. Wierzchos) [80].

www.cat-science.cat

121

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 4. (A) Cross section of microbial matsfrom the Camargue sampled during two seasons, showing the diﬀerent layers. (B) Day-night gradient of oxygen, sulfide, and pH. (C) Major bacterial groups and matter cycling occurring in the microbial mat.

Microbial mats: the first structured habitats

We are only beginning to appreciate the intimate interdependence of minerals and microorganisms, in particular the essential role that several chemical elements must have played in the first stages of life. Microorganisms in sediments contribute to the immobilization of metals through a continuum of sorption and precipitation reactions. Depending on the prevailing environmental conditions and the activity of indigenous microbial populations, individual cells can facilitate the nucleation and growth of crystal forms of distinct minerals. The uptake and release of chemicals by living organisms are necessary conditions of life and cause perceptible geochemical changes in the surrounding environment. Presently, current rates of organic matter sedimentation from the open ocean environment to near-shore and lagoon environments vary between 20 and 10,000 g/m2 per year. Under these conditions, and assuming a calcium carbonate yield of 0.5, induced carbonate precipitation by bacteria may produce a layer ranging from 4 µm to 2 mm in thickness. Thus, over one million years, bacterial carbonatogenesis could form a limestone layer 4–2000 m thick. As Vladimir Ivanovitch Vernadsky (1863–1945) stated in his seminal book The Biosphere [72], “If life were to cease the great chemical processes connected with it would disappear, both from the biosphere and probably also from the crust. All minerals in the upper crust—free alumino–silicious acids (clays), the carbonates (limestones and dolomites), the hydrated oxides of iron and aluminum (limonites and bauxites)—as well as hundreds of others, are continuously created by the influence of life. The biosphere is not only the face of Earth but is the global dynamic system transforming our planet since the beginning of biogeological time” [page 56, The Biosphere]. www.cat-science.cat

Microbial mats exemplify functionally integrated, self-sustaining, laminated microbial consortial systems. They exhibit a remarkably high degree of biodiversity compressed into a few millimeters, with dense horizontal arrays of different functional groups of Bacteria and Archaea. The microbial functional groups commonly present in mats are photosynthetic bacteria, aerobic heterotrophs, fermenters, anaerobic heterotrophs (notably sulfate-reducing species) and chemolithotrophs (especially, sulfur-oxidizing species) [27]. The consumption of resources and the generation of metabolic products by microbial populations are the driving forces in the formation of gradients [12]. Gradients are particularly evident in physically structured habitats, producing new spatial heterogeneity and diversity that can select for a particular genetic variant among other genotypes. There is a principal difference between the gradients of compounds used for biomass synthesis and those needed for energy conservation, such as oxygen. While nutrient limitation leads mainly to a decrease or cessation of metabolic activity, the lack of energy substrates forces an organism to switch to a different type of metabolism, or may even cause a shift in the composition of the microbial community. As a result, gradients enable microbiota to diversify metabolically and lead to more complete nutrient cycling and community-level interactions over a range of temporal and spatial scales [12,16,50]. Chemical properties within mats fluctuate daily and seasonally. During the day, oxygenic photosynthesis operates in the uppermost layers. At night, however, the mats become anoxic and high in hydrogen sulfide concentrations, a conse122

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

quence of ongoing sulfate reduction in the absence of photosynthesis. Gradients produce a different microniche for every population in the community. Populations can also develop metabolically integrated consortia that can adopt specific spatial configurations. Microbial mats, with their rich diversity of organisms, are sites of complex elemental transformations [28,64]. High O2 consumption in the mat leads to a low O2 concentration which together with low O2 penetration in situ during the night confines the oxic zone to the top 0.2 mm of the mat. At noon, high rates of oxygenic photosynthesis result in a strong increase in O2 concentrations both in the overlying water and within the mat. The O2 penetration depth in the mat increases to 2 mm. Primary producers, e.g., cyanobacteria, excrete hydrogen and small organic acids, which serve as substrates for the growth of a broad array of microorganisms. Bacterial production of low-molecular-weight nitrogen and sulfur compounds is also important. All these substrates are involved in energy and electron flow in anaerobic ecosystems and thus form the potential basis for microbial interactions, such as those between phototrophic green sulfur bacteria and chemolithotrophic, sulfur-reducing bacteria, in which sulfur compounds are exchanged between the partners, and syntrophic associations between fermentative bacteria and methanogenic archaea or sulfate-reducing bacteria [59] (Fig. 4).

environments, such as those in the Western Mediterranean (Ebro Delta and Camargue): the photo/oxic (ca. 0–2 mm depth) zone, the low sulfide (ca. 2–4 mm depth) zone, and the high sulfide (ca. 5 mm and deeper) zone. The photo/oxic zone is typically dominated by oxygenic cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae. Cyanobacteria are usually the most important primary producers in this kind of environment. Due to their photosynthetic metabolism, they not only generate oxygen, which can diffuse a few millimeters into the mat, but they also synthesize organic carbon compounds that are available to the rest of the microbial populations by active excretion or cell lysis. Among all cyanobacteria evaluated, Microcoleus chthonoplastes is the most abundant, reaching 61.2% of the total photosynthetic biomass in the photic/oxic zones of the studied mats, whereas Lyngbya aestuarii and coccoid cyanobacteria represent only 20.6% and 6.4%, respectively. Oxygenic phototrophs constitute about 58% of total photosynthetic biomass, measured as biovolume, in the photic zone of Ebro Delta microbial mats. In addition to cyanobacteria, oxygenic phototrophs include diatoms, which account for 11.8%, with the genera Amphora, Navicula, and Nitzschia as the most abundant [45]. L. aestuarii and diatoms, together with different coccoid cyanobacteria and some filaments of M. chthonoplastes, coat the surface of the mat. Below the oxic layer but still in the photic zone are anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (mainly purple and green sulfur bacteria), which contribute the remaining 42% of total photosynthetic biomass. Thus, the photo/oxic zone also supports a rich community of anerobic/aerobic facultative and fermentative heterotrophs. In several Camargue ponds, where the salinity of the water ranges from 70 ‰ to 150 ‰, M. chthonoplastes and Halomicronema excentricum are the dominant filamentous cyanobacteria, but Oscillatoria and Leptolyngbya strains have been observed as well. Unicellular types affiliated with the genera Microcystis, Chroococcus, Gloeocapsa, and, especially, Synechocystis account for ca. 27% of the cyanobacterial population. Although diverse anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria such as Rhodobacter and Ectothiorhodospira inhabit Camargue mats, Halochromatium salexigens and Roseospira marina predominate in surface and deep zones, respectively [22]. The major heterotrophs in the photic zone of Ebro Delta mats belong to the Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria. By contrast, in the cyanobacterial layer of hypersaline Camargue mats, Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides (CFB) is the predominant group, together with Alphaproteobacteria [22,73]. In Ebro Delta mats, both the ratios of the different cyanobacteria and the presence and thickness of the layers of anoxygenic sulfur phototrophic bacteria depend on the moisture content, system stability, and age of the microbial mat. Lyngbya, Oscillatoria, and Spirulina are the first cyanobacteria able to colonize the bare sediment. Lyngbya dominates in young microbial mats and in mats exposed to frequent desic-

Two Western Mediterranean microbial mats: populations diversity and spatial distributions Microbial populations rarely occur alone in nature; rather, they interact with each other to form complex communities [27], that is, heterogeneous microbial assemblages living together at a given place or habitat. Population identification is the first step in understanding the relationship between the community as a whole and the various assemblages that give rise to it. The study of microbial communities has raised questions about their composition, structure, and stability but also about the activities and functions of their individual inhabitants. The microorganisms from microbial mats have been characterized using a variety of observational techniques, such as light microscopy and scanning or transmission electron microscopy [17,61]. However, they can also be detected based on their molecular markers, by employing molecular biological techniques such as lipids analysis (especially fatty acids) and 16S rRNA, both of which can reveal microbial diversity and the structure of microbial communities [14,66,77]. By combining the different methodologies, a more representative picture of the distribution and abundance of microorganisms in complex communities is obtained. Physico-chemical gradients and microbial diversity.

There are three main chemical zones in mats of temperate www.cat-science.cat

123

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 5. Vertical distribution of aerobic-oxygenic phototrophs through the top 0.6 mm of several geographically diﬀerent microbial mats.

cation. Microcoleus is the second most important colonist in the microbial succession; it thrives in the alternating submergence and re-emergence of the mat [23]. A schematic summary of the vertical distribution of aerobic phototrophic microorganisms through the top 0.6 mm of several highly geographically separated microbial mats is shown in Fig. 5. The filamentous forms of M. chthonoplastes are dominant, along with Lyngbya sp., and Synechococcus sp. These mat-forming taxa are embedded in matrices of extracellular polymeric substances, which hold large amounts of water and thus serve as a protective mechanism against the osmotic stress that is particularly high in shallow surface brines and during periods of desiccation. The comparison shown in Fig. 5 demonstrates the universal presence of these communities in microbial mats regardless of their geographic locations. Light becomes more diffuse past a depth of 3 mm but it is sufficient to drive anoxygenic photosynthesis in groups such as purple sulfur bacteria and green sulfur bacteria. In Ebro Delta microbial mats, different strains have been isolated and cultured in axenic culture, such as Chromatium sp., Thiocapsa sp., Lamprobacter sp., and Ectothiorhodospira sp. Also isolated from these microbial mats are green sulfur bacteria bewww.cat-science.cat

longing to the genus Prosthecochloris [45]. At depths greater than 5 mm, light is absent and photosynthesis does not occur. Here, the microbial community primarily consists of anaerobic sulfate reducers. Microbial diversity by detecting 16S rRNA. Metagenomic

shotgun and targeted-gene amplicon sequencing are two complementary, culture-independent approaches to assess microbial biodiversity. The former offers a relatively unbiased view of the suite of genomic information in an environmental sample, based on adequate sequencing depth and assembly. A high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing approach to 16S rRNA was used to study the composition and diversity of Camargue microbial mat communities. The detected sequences represented more than 20 phyla, with important contributions by only eight phyla, although each phylum-level group is represented by broad intra-phylum diversity (Fig. 6). In laminated microbial mats from Guerrero Negro (“Exportadora de Sal” Saltworks, Baja California Sur, Mexico), where 42 bacterial phyla were recorded, molecular surveys determined the ratios of bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic 16S:18S rRNA of 90%, 9%, and 1%, respectively [20,30,37,55]. In these mats, maximum archaeal diversity occurs within the oxic zone 124

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

Fig. 6. Phylogenetic tree of the bacteria associated with a Camargue microbial mat and their GenBank relatives of the most prevalent operational taxonomic units (OTUs; with a distance threshold of 0.03), as generated by 454-pyrosequencing. The tree was obtained using the Interactive Tree of Life, a web-based tool [http://itol.embl.de].

and consists mainly of members of the Euryarchaeota. Euryarchaeotes also dominate the archaeal diversity to a depth of ca. 26 mm, i.e., into the anoxic, high-hydrogen sulfide zone of the mat. In contrast, few crenarchaeal sequences are found above 2 mm, but their numbers increase with depth to become the most numerous and diverse archaeal sequences in the mat below ca. 27 mm [55]. The eukaryotic diversity of the Guerrero Negro mat is surprisingly sparse considering the vast bacterial diversity in the same setting. Bacteria collectively have broad metabolic capabilities and can occupy many chemical niches, whereas the metabolic versatility of eukaryotes seems more limited, even though they are capable of survival under high sulfide, fermentative, anoxic conditions. The dominant eukaryotic organisms in the mat are bacterivorous nematodes. Although nematodes represent only a small fraction of the total biomass in Guerrero Negro mats, they may still play a significant role in the community, by imparting churning action and microbial/chemical transport within the mat [20].

centrations of oxygen and sulfide and other chemical compounds. Diversity is generally thought to be desirable for ecosystem stability; that is, more complex systems are more robust than simpler ones and thus less vulnerable to environmental changes. This robustness is based in part on redundancy, in which multiple units perform the same or very similar functions inside the system. If several individuals are lost after a challenge, many other almost-functionally identical individuals are available to replace them, thus repairing the system [5,8]. Analyses of lipid biomarkers provide a quantitative means of measuring viable microorganisms, microbial community composition, and community nutritional/physiological status. Gram-negative bacteria are evidenced by the presence of monoenoic phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), and Gram-positive bacteria by terminally branched saturated fatty acids. Branched monosaturated and mid-chain-branched saturated fatty acids are representative lipids of anaerobic microorganisms, while polysaturated fatty acids identify cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms. Others compounds, such as plasmalogen-derived dimethyl acetals (DMA), and sphingoid bases, provide additional clues as to mat community composition [49,74,75,77].

Population changes and physiological status. Microbial

mats are characterized by cyclical and seasonal fluctuations of flooding and desiccation and by diel fluctuations in the conwww.cat-science.cat

125

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 7. Community composition of microbial mat samples from (A) the Ebro Delta and (B) the Camargue, as determined by % PLFA analysis.

Physiological stress within microbial communities can be measured by the ratios of cyclopropane to monoenoic PLFA and trans-monoenoic to cis-monoenoic PLFA. The former ratio is increased in response to changes in environmental conditions. Monoenoic fatty acids (16:1v7c and 18:1v7c) are converted to cyclopropyl (cy 17:0 and cy 19:0), such that the ratio is usually within the range of 0.05 (exponential phase) to 2.5 or higher (stationary phase). Microbes grow slowly when carbon source(s) and terminal electron acceptors are present but the supply of some essential nutrients is limited. Under these conditions of â&#x20AC;&#x153;unbalanced growth,â&#x20AC;? bacteria can accumulate biopolymers (such as poly-ď ˘-hydroxyalkanoates). In response to metabolic stress (e.g., toxicity, starvation), bacteria produce trans-monounsaturated fatty acids. Trans/cis ratios higher than 0.1 indicate starvation in bacterial isolates. This value is usually 0.05 or less in healthy, non-stressed populations [49,73]. Differences in community composition may reflect seasonal environmental parameters, principally temperature (Fig. 7). In mat samples collected during the summer and winter of 2001 and 2002, anaerobes were more abundant in summer. Higher temperatures increase respiratory activity, which favors the anoxic conditions that predominate in the mat. During winter, ambient temperatures are considerably lower and the daily temperature variations (day-night) are less pronounced than in summer. During the spring and summer, the mats were desiccated, the consequence of high temperatures and irradiance levels and increased salinity. www.cat-science.cat

The community composition of Ebro Delta microbial mats during a day-night cycle was characterized based on the PLFA pattern [74]. In that study, the responses of individual populations to changing solar illumination was variable, with some responding stably throughout the diel cycle, while others significantly shifted their location within the mat (Fig. 8). The community consisted mainly of Gram-negative bacteria (especially Proteobacteria) at 12:00 h and 15:00 h, as indicated by the presence of a high percentage of monoenoic PLFA. At all sampling times, the abundance of lipids representative of microeukaryotes (polyenoic PLFAs) and Gram-positive bacteria (terminally branched saturated PLFAs) remained stable. Among ubiquinones, the Q-10 percentage was highest at 12:00 h, 15:00 h, and 21:00 h; at all other times Q-8 predominated. The%mol of Q-9 was similar at all times. Based on chemotaxonomic studies, Beta-, Gamma-, and Alphaproteobacteria were considered as major sources of Q-8, Q-9, and Q-10, respectively. Among the quinones, the highest%mol was that of menaquinone (MK)-9, which can be found in members of the Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroides. MK-6, MK-7, MK-8, and MK-10 were also present in important relative percentages in all samples. MK-6 has been detected in Actinobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacteria, and Deltaproteobacteria; MK-7 and MK-8 in Euryarchaeota; and MK-10, in green nonsulfur bacteria. Changes in population distribution may correspond to the night-time decrease in oxygen and increase in sulfide. In 126

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

afternoon samples, oxygenic photosynthesis contributed to oxygen supersaturation in the water column above the mat, where a maximum concentration of 1.04 mM was reached. From the changes in sulfide concentrations under lightdark cycles, the rate of H2S production was estimated to be 6.2 µmol H2S cm–3 day–1 at 2.6 mm and 7.6 µmol H2S cm–3 day–1 at 6 mm. Sulfide consumption was also assessed, yielding rates of 0.04, 0.13, and 0.005 mmol l–1 of sulfide oxidized at depths of 2.6, 3, and 6 mm, respectively [47]. An increase in the abundance of Microcoleus near the surface during the day confirmed that these gliding filamentous cyanobacteria indeed migrate, likely in order to modulate their irradiance levels [71]. In summary, microbial mat diversity is apparently stable over a period of hours during the daily cycle, with the exception of those microorganisms that migrate vertically or undergo changes in abundance, especially after events of intense photosynthetic activity. The final result is the stratification of the community [74].

tee on Systematics of Prokaryotes), although 130 years have passed since the invention of the Petri dish. The lack of an extensive and accurate picture of microbial diversity is partly due to a deficiency in technical advances in the field of microbial cultivation, given the prevailing absence of knowledge about the targeted species. The techniques used in the enrichment and isolation of microorganisms establish artificial environmental conditions that allow the development of only a few microorganisms, i.e., those most able to thrive in the conditions of the manufactured culture environment. Given that these conditions are the result of the researcher’s skill, persistence, and, to a large extent, luck, it should not be surprising that the vast immensity of the microbial world remains uncultured. Therefore, the following description of bacterial groups from microbial mats consists only of those that we have been able to enrich, as we have yet to achieve their growth on Petri dish media. Spirochetes. Spirochetes are a group of helical, motile, Gram-negative bacteria that are widely distributed in nature. They constitute a monophyletic phylum characterized phenotypically by a special cellular ultrastructure (periplasmatic flagella) and a form of motility that is unique among members of the Domain Bacteria. Fifteen species of Spirochaeta are presently known [36,51]. There is also an immotile spirochete with a coccoid morphology, strain SPN1. Although it was first classified in the genus Spirochaeta it was later reclassified as a novel species in the genus Sphaerochaeta, a sister group of the Spirochaeta. This strain is of interest because it may play an important role in the digestion of breakdown products from cellulose and hemicellulose in the termite gut [2].

Enrichment and isolation of several bacterial groups from Ebro Delta and the Camargue microbial mats Significant insights into microbial physiology have been gained by studying the small number of prokaryote species already cultured. However, despite these numerous breakthroughs, cultivation is still a limited approach to the study of the mat microbial community. As noted above, only slightly more than 7000 prokaryotic species have been thus far described (and validated by the International Commit-

Fig. 8. Community composition of an Ebro Delta microbial mat during a day-night cycle, as determined by % PLFA analysis [74].

www.cat-science.cat

127

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 9. A comparison of Spirochaeta phylotypes (16S rRNA) from Ebro Delta (E) and the Camargue (C) mats with Spirochaeta phylotypes from Guerrero Negro mats (GN). One-thousand bootstrap trees were generated; bootstrap confidence levels, expressed as percentages (only values >50%), are shown at tree nodes.

Free-living spirochetes of the genus Spirochaeta are one of the bacterial groups often observed in the hydrogen-sulfiderich layers of microbial mat habitats. In several studies, spirochetes comprised 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4% of the bacteria total 16S rRNA sequences analyzed per sample [3,7,37]. Novel Spirochaeta phylotypes, which have not yet been cultivated in vitro, have been identified in samples from hypersaline ponds in Western Mediterranean salterns [7,48]. However, relatively few spirochetes from mats have been isolated and characterized [42,67,79]. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA genes was used to investigate spirochetal diversity in Ebro Delta and Camargue mats. Samples from each location were collected in the spring and winter over a period of 2 years. Novel phylotypes of not-yet-cultivated spirochetes belonging to the genus Spirochaeta were detected. None of the phylotypes were identified as known culturable species of Spirochaeta or as previously identified phylotypes cloned from other hypersaline microbial mats, such as those of Guerrero Negro, MĂŠxico. Ebro Delta and Camargue phylotypes, like phylotypes from Guerrero Negro, grouped according to the vertical gradient of oxygen and sulfide in the mat, and not by sampling season (Fig. 9). The presence of spirochetes in microbial mats of different locations suggests that they would constitute very diwww.cat-science.cat

verse and stable populations involved in a well-integrated metabolic symbiosis (i.e., permanent physiological cooperation) with other specialized populations in the mats, where they would maintain a coordinated functional and stable community [7]. Thus, spirochetes are major constituents of the biota in microbial mats. The main compounds produced by spirochetes are acetate, H2, and CO2, all of which are usually consumed by sulfate-reducing bacteria and by methanogens (two groups highly represented in microbial mats). Spirochetes have metabolic capabilities unrecognized for many years, such as nitrogen fixation [38] and the reduction of thiosulfate and elemental sulfur, but not sulfate, to sulfide [41]. In conclusion, spirochetes form a dynamic population involved in maintaining stable ecosystem functioning, by supplying carbon sources and electron donors to other members of the mat community. They are a ubiquitous component of the oxic-anoxic gradient of microbial mats, where they compete effectively with other heterotrophic organisms for soluble sugars [7]. Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi is a spirochete first described in Ebro Delta microbial mats [24,43], and later in samples from the Sippewissett salt marsh (Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 128

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

Fig. 10. Spirochetes from an Ebro Delta microbial mat. (A) Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi (photo by L. Margulis). (B) Scanning electron micrographs of spirochete-like bacteria (recovered from a bloom) filtered onto a 3-μm-pore-size polycarbonate filter (photo by L. Villanueva).

USA) and in microbial mats at North Pond of Laguna Figueroa (Baja California Norte, México). The identity of these spirochetes was confirmed by electron microscopy [44]. Spirosymplokos is a large (up to 100 µm long, average of 70 µm), loosely coiled, free-living spirochete with variable diameters (from 0.4 to 3 µm along the same cell), and containing 3–6 periplasmic flagella (Fig. 10). This spirochete has been observed in mud water and enrichment media, associated with Microcoleus chthonoplastes, but not in muds lacking clearly laminated, brightly colored, overlying sediments. Light microscopy confirmed phototaxis in this large spirochete. Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi was enriched from samples of microbial mats of the Microcoleus/Thiocapsa type. Enrichment assays consisted of placing mat pieces from the original field samples in tubes containing cellobiose and rifampicin. After incubation of the tubes for 1–2 weeks in the light at 25 °C, populations of the large spirochete developed but they could not be transferred to fresh medium [24] because they swelled on exposure to air. Within a few hours, while they continued to move, one to four refractile bodies formed along nearly all the cells. These became visible after the protoplasmic cylinders were withdrawn. The refractile, membranous, round bodies (RBs; also referred to as reproductive propagules, coccoid bodies, globular bodies, spherical bodies, granules, or cysts) provide a morphological basis for the oxygen and desiccation resistance of Spirosymplokos. Mud-dwelling spirochetes are anaerobic and aerotolerant chemoheterotrophs that survive in changing intertidal environments, and they are probably among the most ancient mat inhabitants [43]. Spirochetal RBs are a cell form induced by environmental conditions unfavorable for growth. Following the resumption of growth, RBs reversibly convert into motile cells. Reversible pleiomorphy has been recorded in at least five spirochete genera (Borrelia, Spirosymplokos and three ectosymbiont www.cat-science.cat

spirochetes from termite protists such as the protist Mastotermes). This phenomenon could explain chronic spirochetoses in humans and the reappearance of motile bacteria after long dormancy periods. Although in both cases there must also be an immunological contribution, that symptom reappearance is related to spirochete differentiation merits consideration. Persistence of tissue spirochetes of Borrelia burgdorferi as helices and RBs could likewise explain many erythema-Lyme disease symptoms [11] as well as changes in the course of syphilis, which is caused by the tightly-coiled small (3 µm × 0.3 µm) spirochete Treponema pallidum. The only known habitat of T. pallidum is the human body; the bacterium cannot be cultured in axenic media. Based on the main clinical and pathological manifestations of syphilis, it has been divided into three classical stages. A primary stage, with development of the typical chancre; a generalized secondary stage, reflecting hematogenous dissemination of the spirochetes; and a late, chronic or tertiary stage (neurosyphilis), which can appear months, years, or even decades following the primary infection. During the “latent” period (between secondary and tertiary stages) T. pallidum cannot be detected in host tissues [46]. It is in this stage that Treponema probably forms RBs, similar to those of Borrelia and Spirosymplokos [24]. The detection of T. pallidum in the brains of patients with general paresis established a direct link between persisting infection and the manifestations of (tertiary) neurosyphilis. Magnetotactic bacteria from the Ebro Delta and the Camargue. The term “magnetotactic bacteria” (MTB) has

no taxonomic significance but instead describes a heterogeneous group of Bacteria displaying many different cellular morphologies, including coccoid, rod-shaped, vibrioid, spirilloid (helical), and even multicellular (aggregates), but sharing an ability to passively align and actively swim along 129

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

mately dominated by magnetotactic cocci (no other morphotypes were observed by microscopy). In one microcosm containing a sample from the Camargue, only one morphotype was detected, multicellular MTB or aggregates thereof that rapidly disappeared upon laboratory incubation (Fig. 11). These magnetotactic multicellular organisms (10–20 cells, each) were highly motile, with a complex swimming behavior consisting of a forward movement in the direction of the magnetic field and a backward movement in the opposite direction, indicating that flagellar movement in the whole organism is coordinated. Disaggregation of the cells resulted in their loss of motility. These magnetotactic multicellular organisms were spherical in shape and grew by an increase in cell size, but not in cell number. The cells divided synchronously. These organisms and their behavior were similar to those later described by Abreu et al., [1] in Brazil. Major factors determining the distribution of bacteria in a stratified habitat include the location and width of the chemocline as well as the proximity and concentrations of electron donors and acceptors. The assumption of a sulfide-oxidizing metabolism is reasonable for MTB populations in microcosms. Changes in magnetotactic diversity over time might be determined by different optima in sulfide and oxygen gradients present in the microcosm [21]. Lin & Pan (2010) [39] showed that the phylogenetic discrepancy in MTB communities between two microcosms is more prominent than that of the same microcosm at different times, implying adaptation of MTB phylogenetic lineages to specific microenvironments. Among the physico-chemical variables measured, nitrate availability was found to strongly correlate with the main genetic variability of MTB communities, indicating that nitrate influences the occurrence of MTB phyloge-

the Earth’s geomagnetic and local magnetic field lines. MTB are motile Gram-negative prokaryotes that are ubiquitous in aquatic habitats, including freshwater and marine sediments. They are cosmopolitan in their distribution and most abundant at the oxic-anoxic transition zone (OATZ; also referred to as the redoxocline or microaerobic zone). The capacity for magnetotaxis is due to the presence of magnetosomes, intracellular membrane-bound crystals of magnetic iron minerals, such as magnetite (Fe3O4), or greigite (Fe3S4) [57]. The function of magnetotaxis in bacteria is to facilitate their finding and maintaining a favorable position in vertical chemical gradients in stratified environments. Despite their ubiquity and abundance in many marine and freshwater habitats, only a small number of magnetotactic strains have been isolated in pure culture [33–35]. The MTB identified thus far are associated with several phyla: the Alpha-, Gamma- and Deltaproteobacteria classes of Proteobacteria, the Nitrospirae, the candidate division OP3, and part of the Planctomycetes–Verrucomicrobia–Chlamydiae bacterial superphylum [35]. MTB have been observed both in fresh samples and in microcosms prepared from the Ebro Delta and Camargue. The microcosms were established in bottles containing twothirds sediment mats, overlain with one-third sample water. The loosely covered bottles were incubated at room temperature in dim light without agitation. Five days before isolation analysis, they were stored in complete darkness to prevent photosynthesis. Ebro Delta fresh samples (from the Encanyissada Lagoon) typically contained various characteristic MTB morphotypes, including cocci, spirilla, rods, and vibrios. The communities in the microcosms underwent a characteristic succession within several weeks that resulted in an apparent loss of diversity. After prolonged incubation, they were ulti-

Fig. 11. (A) Contrast phase optic microscopy showing the morphological diversity of magnetotactic bacteria from Ebro Delta microbial mats (photo by M. Berlanga). (B) Transmission electron micrograph showing a magnetotactic bacterium. (C) A detail of a magnetosome chain (photo by J. Wierzchos). (D) Contrast phase optic micrography showing magnetotactic aggregates from a Camargue sample (photo by M. Berlanga).

www.cat-science.cat

130

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

Fig. 12. (A) Scanning electron micrograph of a large spirillum in which only one pole has retained its flagella. Sulfur globules are visible through the cell wall (bar equals 5 μm). (B) Scanning electron micrograph of the cell terminus shows one vaulted end with its residual flagella and the indentation coated by the polar organelle (bar equals 0.5 μm). (C) The polar organelle (po) underlies the indented terminus (bar equals 1 μm). (D) Polar organelles lie proximal to at least nine layers of wall material at the cell termini (bar equals 0.25 μm) [26].

1–2 ml of filtered, but not sterilized, natural sea water. Enormous populations of small spirilla developed in 2 or 3 days, followed 3–6 days later by the appearance of the huge spirillum. Populations of other bacteria (e.g., small rods and spirilla) and protists (e.g., ciliates and diatoms) developed in all tubes. After 3–4 weeks, the numbers of huge spirilla spontaneously declined. Later, unless transferred to fresh seawater, both spirilla morphotypes disappeared. The unique characteristics of the polar section of T. velox cells merits a detailed description: at each cell pole there is a polar organelle. This proteinaceous, ribbon-like, submembranous structure spans portions of the periphery of different but always flagellated bacteria. Polar organelles underlie the flagellated portion of the cell wall during the developmental cycle, when flagella are present. They are associated with ATPase activity in Campylobacter and Sphaerotilus natans and presumably function in the release of energy to power the flagella. The presence of polar organelles correlates with motility in bacteria such as Aquaspirillum and spirochetes [26]. In Fig. 12B, note the inverse dome in the pole. Under each raised-rim indented cell terminus (Fig. 12C) is a polar organelle, a densely staining line of globular units 5–6 nm in diameter, and a unique conspicuous space (Fig. 12C,D). Bundles of flagella, containing more than 30 flagella rotating in unison, emerge from these vaulted unique cell ends. A similar structure in any other kind of cell, either prokaryotic or eukaryotic, has yet to be identified.

netic lineages in natural environments. Other works have pointed out that microaerophilic, magnetite-producing, coccoid sulfide oxidizers are present at the top of the chemocline, while greigite-magnetosomes occur at its base [60]. The magnetotactic cocci observed in Ebro Delta microcosms were microaerophilic sulfide oxidizers and were probably representative of those that accumulate at the oxygen-sulfide interface. Aggregates from the Camargue only appeared when the sulfide concentration in the microcosm medium was high (detected by odor), suggesting that within vertical gradients different species differ in their positional preferences. Titanospirillum velox: A large and fast sulfur-storing spirillum from Ebro Delta microbial mats. This microorganism

was first observed in microcosms constructed in the University of Massachusetts-Amherst from the Sippewissett mats (Woods Hole, MA, USA). The bacterium is 20–30 µm long and 3–5 µm wide, with elemental sulfur globules irregularly distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Unique cell termini were observed in scanning-electron and transmission-electron micrographs. A polar organelle underlies bundles of greater than 60 flagella at each indented terminus. These Gram-negative bacteria bend, flex, and swim in a spiral fashion, moving at speeds greater than 10 body lengths per second [26] (Fig. 12A). Unlike Rhodospirillum or Thiospirillum, these large spirilla are not phototrophs, because they survive and grow no differently in light or darkness; rather, they are sulfur-rich heterotrophs. They are far larger and differ morphologically from Oceanospirillum, and fail to grow on medium that supports the growth of that genus. Titanospirillum velox from a microbial-mat bacterium from the Ebro Delta was grown in mixed culture by dropwise addition of an inoculum of a suspension to tubes with a large airspace and containing a 1-cm3 piece of microbial-mat inoculum from the original Ebro Delta site in www.cat-science.cat

Potential uses of microbial mats in biotechnology Carbon cycling is closely related to the dynamics of PHAs in microbial mat communities [56,74]. The intracellular storage of these ester carbon polymers is a strategy that increases cell survival in changing environments [9,62,69]. PHAs serve as 131

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 13. Ecophysiology of the day-night carbon and sulfide cycles carried out by diﬀerent populations of a typical marine microbial mat community (Ebro Delta). PHB : poly-β-hydroxybutyrate, Gly: glycogen, SRB: sulfate-reducing bacteria, PSB/GSB, purple/green sulfur bacteria (anoxygenic phototrophs) [27].

lated organic carbon are quickly depleted (Fig. 13) [27]. Bacteria can synthesize a wide range of biopolymers that serve diverse biological functions but whose material properties also make them suitable for numerous industrial and medical applications. The use of laboratory culture techniques is appropriate in: (i) procuring organisms for fundamental biochemical, physiological, genetic, or developmental studies in which growth in vitro is a prerequisite for the provision of adequate biomass, ensuring the purity of the sample, and thus as a means of study; and (ii) screening and isolating organisms for potential biotechnological application. Most of the PHA-producing strains isolated from Ebro Delta mats belong to the genus Halomonas [6,10,76]. Members of the Halomonadaceae are Gram-negative Gammaproteobacteria, chemo-organotrophic, aerobic or facultative anaerobic, moderately halophilic, haloalkaliphilic, halotolerant, or non-halophilic. Halomonas strain isolates, such as H. alkaliphila (MAT-7, -13, -16), H. neptunia (MAT-17), and H. venusta (MAT-28), accumulate PHAs in amounts of up 40–60% of the total dry weight. These three different species have been used to determine the influence of different growth modes, i.e., planktonic cells and artificial biofilms [10], on PHA accumulation. Artificial biofilms consist of cells immobilized by encapsulation on alginate beads. Commercial alginates are produced mainly by brown algae (Laminaria hyperborea, Macrocystis pyrifera, and Ascophyllum nodosum). Alginate is a polymer of 1,4-linked β-D-mannuronic acid and α-L-guluronic acid residues varying in proportions and sequence and yielding com-

an endogenous source of carbon and energy during starvation. They accumulate when a carbon source is provided in excess and another nutrient (such as nitrogen, sulfur, phosphate, iron, magnesium, potassium, or oxygen) is limiting [31]. Since poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), one of the most abundant PHAs, was first described in Bacillus megaterium by Lemoigne in 1926, several studies have demonstrated PHA production by a wide variety of prokaryotes. PHA granules are coated with a monolayer of phospholipids and proteins. The latter play a major role in the synthesis and degradation of PHAs and in PHA granule formation. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs) polymers in mats. Micro-

bial mats, as highly diverse and productive systems, accumulate large quantities of PHA under natural conditions and in the community as a whole [56,74]. During the day, oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis predominates over aerobic respiration and sulfatoreduction in the microbial mat ecosystem. Excess carbon not used for growth accumulate in the cells as biopolymers. At the end of the day, when the light intensity decreases drastically, and during the night, respiratory and sulfate reduction activity predominate because photosynthesis is stopped. Anoxic conditions during the night may also trigger the growth of sulfate-reducing bacteria, which may become very active by using the organic matter (reduced products) generated during the day as electron donors for sulfate reduction. Under these conditions, the sulfide concentration inside the mat increases whereas oxygen and readily assimiwww.cat-science.cat

132

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

their own surface or interfacial properties or those of their surroundings. Surfactants are amphiphilic compounds that can be classified into two groups, low- and high-molecular-weight. Low-molecular-weight BSs are generally glycolipids or lipopeptides and they are more effective at lowering interfacial and surface tension. High-molecular-weight BSs, which are mostly amphipathic polysaccharides, proteins, lipopolysaccharides and lipoproteins, are effective stabilizers of oil-in-water emulsions [4]. In complex systems such as microbial mats, BSs may alter the physical and chemical conditions of the local environment, thus modulating microbial interactions with interfaces. Using a cultivation step, we obtained heterotrophs from Ebro Delta microbial mats. Colonies grown on TSA and having distinguishing morphologies were selected. According to 16S rRNA analyses, we identified the four strains as Bacillus licheniformis (Fig.15). One of the classes of surfactants produced by B. licheniformis is lichenysin. These compounds are the most potent anionic cyclic lipoheptapeptide BSs produced when glucose is used as the carbon source. Their secretion by B. licheniformis is stimulated by the presence of excess glucose, as was the case in the isolation conditions, in which 10% glucose was added [4]. All four strains had similar capacities to lower the surface tension of the culture medium from 65 to 35 mN/m.

pounds of different molecular weights. The ionic interaction of multivalent cations (usually Ca2+) with the blocks of guluronic residues present in alginate results in gelation [58]. Depending on the characteristics of the alginate beads, bacteria growing on their surfaces are able to form microcolony-like cellular aggregates that can be easily detached and released into the surrounding medium (Fig. 14A). PHA accumulation in cells detached from alginate beads has been compared with that by their planktonic counterparts to determine whether bacterial immobilization enhanced PHA production [10]. In the three strains assayed in that work, i.e., H.alkaliphila (MAT-16), H. neptunia (MAT-17), and H. venusta (MAT-28), PHA accumulation, measured as the relative fluorescence intensity after 48 h of incubation at 30 ºC with an excess of glucose, was higher in cells growing on alginate beads than in planktonic cells (Fig.14B). Thus, to obtain high PHA concentrations, the use of immobilized cells may be a good alternative to bacteria growing in the classical, planktonic mode [10]. Biosurfactant polymers. Other polymers of interest pro-

duced by microbial mat bacteria are surface-active biosurfactants (BSs). These compounds allow microorganisms to change

Fig. 14. Scanning electron micrograph of immobilized cells of Halomonas strain MAT-28 at time 0 (A), and after 48 h of incubation (A′). (A′′) Microcolonies formed at the surface of a bead and about to detach. Note that several individual cells are protruding from the bumps produced by the presence of the microcolonies (arrows). (B) PHA accumulation in Halomonas spp. was measured spectrofluorometrically after 48 h of incubation at 30 ºC in minimal medium with glucose (Glu) and 3 % NaCl; and in two growth modes: planktonic or artificial biofilm (alginate beads). Data shown are the average of the results of four independent experiments [10].

www.cat-science.cat

133

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 15. Three Bacillus licheniformis strains growing in MRS medium (named after its inventors: de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpeh).

The minimal unit of life that we know is the cell. Cells exploit the medium in which they live and multiply. The residues of their metabolism cannot serve as their own further nutrients. Thus, the cellular environment is eventually depleted of food and no longer able to sustain life. However, cells have also evolved to use other foods, which, again, will be eventually exhausted. If the succession of cell types is sufficiently long, with each one able to feed on the residues of previous ones, then a closed food web becomes possible, with the residue of the last cell type able to feed the first cell type. This cycle of metabolic products, the product of ecopoiesis, happened on the Earth, at least once, and allowed life to persist: it is evidenced in the earliest ecoystem among prokaryotes. Thus, the stromatolites of Warrawoona (3500 million years old) can be considered as one of the first known and most primitive ecosystem and their existence implies that ecopoiesis happened on Earth when life was very young, only 300 million years old, at the most. In the absence of ecopoiesis, all life on Earth would be extinguished, as all available chemical elements would eventually be depleted. In general, the growth of each individual population can be expressed by the adaptation of the Monod’s equation: dP / dt = µP; where P is the population density in a given time (t) and µ is the specific growth rate of the population. The value of µ depends on both favorable conditions (K), such as nutrients, water, light, pH and temperature, and negative or deleterious conditions (ω), such as outflow, predation, lysis and sedimentation, which reduce the numbers of cells in the population. If K > ω,

Marine microbes have been scarcely explored for their ability to produce polymers such as PHAs and BSs. Microbial mats constitute a potential source for the isolation of new polymer-producing strains, although culture conditions must be optimized to obtain polymer concentrations that are high enough to be industrially and commercially exploited.

Life on and beyond the Earth The origin and evolution of life on Earth are the result of three major events that have modified our planet, making it completely different from Venus and Mars: biopoiesis (the origin of life), ecopoiesis (the origin of ecosystems, initially represented by stromatolites and microbial mats), and eukaryopoiesis (or eukaryosis, the origin of nucleated cells) [25]. The Earth became independent of the proto-planetary solar disk about 4550  20 million years ago. Biopoiesis might have taken place on our planet as early as 3850  50 million years ago. While it is possible that the initial features of our two neighbors in the solar system were conducive to the appearance of life, most likely, it could not have been maintained on either planet. Probably, on the young Earth (early Archaea Eon) life appeared several times in different manners. But life is a non-stochastic phenomenon that contradicts (at least locally and temporally) the second law of thermodynamics: that entropy always increases. Although there was a certain probability that life would appear, the probability that it would be destroyed was much higher. www.cat-science.cat

134

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

Fig. 16. (A) The growth of a bacterial population follows Monod’s equation, in which the number of individuals in each moment (and therefore the probability of being in stationary, exponential or death phases) depends on the initial number and the specific growth rate (μ). The specific growth rate, in its turn, depends on favorable (K) and unfavorable (ω) conditions for growth. (B) Interactions among diﬀerent populations in an ecosystem. The prediction of pairwise relationships were inferred from operational taxonomic units (OTU). Each node represents an OTU, and each edge represents a significant pairwise association between them.

then µ > 0, and the population increases, whereas if K < ω, then µ < 0, and the population decreases. In the second case, if ω is much higher than K, then µ << 0, leading to the death of the population. The growth of a community depends on the growth of each population. If there is energy flux and matter recycling, the ecosystem will persist [27] (Fig. 16). Prokaryotes experience their environment and respond as individual cells to specific environmental challenges; but they also act cooperatively, carrying out activities as a community [29,63]. In many microbial ecosystems, the functionally active unit is not a single species or population (clonal descendants of the same bacterium) but a consortium of two or more types of cells living in close symbiotic association. Microbial mats can be considered to be extant early ecosystems (see Fig. 3, Warrawoona). Although present-day mats can reach high degrees of complexity, initially they must have been very simple. They fit well with the concept of a minimal ecosystem, whose five basic components are: (i) properties, which are state variables; (ii) forces, which are outside energy sources or casual forces that drive the system; (iii) flow pathways, which are energy or material transfers that connect properties with one another and with forces; (iv) interactions, which are functions by which forces and properties modify, amplify, or control flows; and (v) feedback loops, which are circuits through which matter or energy flows and influences an “upper stream” component or flow [27]. The initial conditions on Earth was different, as not only was there a flow of energy (as is, inescapably, the case today), www.cat-science.cat

there was also a flow of matter. While energy comes mainly from the sun, matter is restricted to that retained when our planet accreted material and became independent of the protoplanetary solar disk. Thus, the Earth’s matter is limited. An ongoing example of the process is the biocenoses around deep-sea vents. The source of energy is the sulfide emanating from the vents. Sulfide is used by sulfur bacteria as a source of energy, and the multiplication and metabolism of those bacteria yield nutrients that feed a diversity of animals, including long pogonophora (Riftia), giant clams (Calyptogena), and strange types of crabs. In 1986, one of us (RG), together with Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock, visited the volcanic caldera of Kilauea, in Hawaii Island. On the walls, near sulfarola emissions, we observed patches of biofilms (50 cm to 3 m wide) with laminated layers not described before (Fig. 17). The top layer was covered by cyanobacteria with dark brown sheaths, probably belonging to the genera Fischerella/Mastigocladus. The dark pigmentation of the cyanobacterial cells was indicative of the stressful conditions under which these organisms were living (high temperatures and ultraviolet irradiation). Below, there was a yellowishtransparent layer similar to gelatin and perhaps composed of sulfur chemolithotrophic bacteria and several populations of heterotrophs. However, the typical black layer observed in microbial mats or sediments in which the dominant microbiota are sulfate-reducing bacteria was absent. (The black color is due to the formation of pyrites as a consequence of sulfate reduction.) In this system there are inputs of energy, solar radia135

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

Fig. 17. Illustration of volcanic caldera in Hawaii and biofilm systems in which there were a constant input of energy (solar and reduced compounds), and a not complete cycling of the matter. hν, radiant energy (usually, light); <CH2O>, organic matter; SCFA, small carbon fatty acids (acetate, butyrate, etc.)

self-centeredness of our species that leads to the manic claim that all bacteria are killer germs to be eradicated from our lives. We should not malign our own ancestors with harsh words. Our intolerant slogans denigrate the non-human life with which we share the planet. The bacterial patina more likely will rid this planet of us, the voluble, ignorant ape, far sooner than we will cause any type of bacteria to disappear. No matter how we protest and what we proclaim, they most likely will thrive, frolicking to grow and reproduce in their own way, long after Homo sapiens extinguishes” (L. Margulis, 2006. In: Bernasconi et al., (eds) Questioni di natura e cultura: non solo DNA. Cellule e genomi - V corso). The Gaia concept recognizes a planet-wide physiological control system at the Earth’s surface. Temperature, atmospheric gas composition, acidity-alkalinity, and oceanic salinity are among the factors regulated by metabolism, growth, interaction, extinction, and other processes characteristic of life. Interstellar space is not empty, but overflows with organic and inorganic material. It is estimated that in the volume determined by a parsec (i.e., a cubic parsec) there is enough matter to form more than 200 Earths. Note that a parsec is about 3,000,000,000,000,000,000 cm, corresponding to more than 3 light-years. From the cosmic point of view, the Earth is only a small planet, ranking third in order of distance from its star, the Sun, which in turn is an average star in an average galaxy, located in a not-special place in the intergalactic void. The origin and development of the Earth and the evolution of life have been contingent phenomena whose occurrence was never certain. Thus, life could have developed either one way or another. A single line of events that actually

tion, and reduced sulfur compounds, but not a complete matter cycle. If the sulfarola becomes extinct, this microbial system will disappear. Early ecosystems (microbial mats), unlike this example in Hawaii, may have had a constant input of chemical elements. But this situation, which prevented the depletion of biogenic elements on the surface of the planet, would last a maximum of 200 or 300 million years, after which primitive life would be extinct (see Fig. 16). Bacteria were the earliest life form to evolve. Their unprecedented activities in photosynthetic and chemical production, cell reproduction, genetic recombination, networking, architecture, emission of gases, and other environmental changes altered the Earth’s surface long before the evolution of a single eukaryote. The first 2000 million years of prokaryotic evolution saw the development of almost all metabolic strategies. Symbiotic associations among prokaryotes gave rise to the ancestors of all the complex and varied biological forms that followed and that now exist on Earth. Prokaryotes were the basis on which all other forms of life arose. They served as the origin of the eukaryotic cell, or eukarypoiesis, in the form of protists (i.e., protozoans, unicellular algae, etc.), which were the first eukaryotic-celled organisms. Indeed, all such organisms emerged within a prokaryotic world and have retained intimate connections with, and dependency upon, prokaryotes. “Our sensibilities come directly from the world of bacteria. The vast numbers of incessantly moving but mute bacterial denizens ignore us as they eat, grow, and reproduce, as we ignore them. Very few, only the “freaks,” poison us or directly feed on us in ways that injure us. It is the notorious www.cat-science.cat

136

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

took place gave origin to the planet, to life, to ecosystems, to eukaryopoiesis, and eventually to our species. Despite both the certainty of life, as a necessary continuity of the laws of physics, and its very possible ubiquity, we might ask whether somewhere else in the universe, in the cosmic vastness, either a long time ago, at present, or in the future, there could be exactly the same vital phenomena that have emerged on this inconspicuous planet that we call Earth.

11. Brorson O, Brorson SH, Scythes J, MacAllister J, Wier A, Margullis L (2009) Destruction of spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi round-body propagules (RBs) by the antibiotic Tigecycline. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:18656-18661 12. Brune A, Frenzel P, Cypionka H (2000) Life at the oxic-anoxic interface: microbial activities and adaptations. FEMS Microbiol Rev 24:691-710 13. Caumette P, Matheron R, Raymond N, Relexans JC (1994) Microbial mats in the hypersaline ponds of Mediterranean salterns (Salins-de-Giraud, France) FEMS Microbiol Ecol 13:273-286 14. DeLong EF (2002) Microbial population genomics and ecology. Curr Opin Microbiol 5:520-524 15. Des Marais DJ (2003) Biogeochemistry of hypersaline microbial mats illustrates the dynamics of modern microbial ecosystems and the early evolution of the biosphere. Biol Bull 204:160-167 16. Dillon JG, Miller S, Bebout B, Hullar M, Pinel N, Stahl DA (2009) Spatial and temporal variability in a stratified hypersaline microbial mat community. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 68:46-58 17. Esteve I, Guerrero R, Montesinos E, Abellà C (1983) Electron microscopy study of the interaction of epibiontic bacteria with Chromatium minus in natural habitats. Microb Ecol 9:57–64 18. Esteve I, Martínez-Alonso M, Mir J, Guerrero R (1992) Distribution, typology and structure of microbial mat communities in Spain: a preliminary study. Limnetica 8:185-195 19. Farías ME, Contreras M, Rasuk MC, Flores MR, Poiré DG, Novoa F, Vissher PT (2014) Characterization of bacterial associated with microbial mats, gypsum evaporates and carbonate microbialites in thalassic wetlands: Tebenquiche and La Brava, Salar de Atacama, Chile. Extremophiles 18:311-329 20. Feazel LM, Spear JR, Berger AB, Harris JK, Frank DN, Ley RE, Pace NR (2008) Eucaryotic diversity in a hypersaline microbial mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 74:329-332 21. Flies CB, Jonkers HM, de Beer D, Bosselmann K, Böttcher ME, Schüler D (2005) Diversity and vertical distribution of magnetotactic bacteria along chemical gradients in freshwater microcosms. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 52:185-195 22. Fourçans A, García de Oteyza T, Wieland A, et al. (2004) Characterization of functional bacterial groups in a hypersaline microbial mat community (Salins-de-Giraud, Camargue, France). FEMS Microbiol Ecol 51:55-70 23. Guerrero R, Urmeneta J, Rampone G (1993) Distribution of types of microbial mats at the Ebro delta, Spain. BioSystems 31:135-144 24. Guerrero R, Ashen J, Solé M, Margulis L (1993) Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi nov. gen., nov. sp.: variable-diameter composite spirochete from microbial mats. Arch Microbiol 160:461-470 25. Guerrero R (1998) Crucial crises in biology: life in the deep biosphere. Int Microbiol 1:285-294 26. Guerrero R, Haselton A, Solé M, Wier A, Margulis L (1999) Titanospirillum velox: A huge, speedy, sulfur-storing spirillum from Ebro delta microbial mats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:11584-11588 27. Guerrero R, Piqueras M, Berlanga M (2002) Microbial mats and the search for minimal ecosystems. Int Microbiol 5:177-188 28. Guerrero R, Berlanga M (2006) Life’s unity and flexibility: the ecological link. Int Microbiol 9:225-235 29. Guerrero R, Berlanga M (2009) The evolution of microbial life: paradigm changes in microbiology. Contributions Sci 5:55-61 30. Harris JK, Caporaso JG, Walker JJ, Spear JR, Gold NJ, Robertson CE, Hugenholtz P, Goodrich J, McDonald D, Knights D, Marshall P, Tufo H, Knight R, Pace NR (2013) Phylogenetic stratigraphy in the Guerrero Negro hypersaline microbial mat. ISME J 7:50-60 31. Jendrossek D, Pfeiffer D (2013) New insights in formation of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granules (carbonosomes) and novel functions of poly(3-hydroxybutirate) (PHB). Environ Microbiol doi: 10.1111/14622920.12356 32. Klatt CG, Inskeep WP, Herrgard MJ, Jay ZJ, Rusch DB, Tringe SG, Parenteau MN, Ward DM, Boomer SM, Bryant DA, Miller SR (2013) Community structure and function of high-temperature chlorophototrophic microbial mats inhabiting diverse geothermal environments. Front Microbiol 4:106 doi:10.3389/fmicb.2013.00106

Acknowledgements. This work was developed by many researchers from different research centers; many of them are recognized in the list of references. The work on the mats in Ebro and Camargue was supported by many grants through the years: BOS2003-02944; CGL2005-04990BOS; CGL2009-08922 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, and international projects PB98-1213; FEDER 2F97-1649, EU grant EVK3CT-1999-00010 (MATBIOPOL Project) and CYTED network by the IberoAmerican Program for Science, Technology, and Development. RG recognizes the constant, essential inspiration of two people who, as masterful macroecologists and mentors, inspired him to enter and explore new, unknown territories: Fernando González Bernáldez (1934–1993), and Ramon Margalef (1919–2003), without whom the new field in “micro-ecology” would never have been explored in Spain. Conflict of interests. None declared.

References 1.

Abreu F, Silva KT, Farina M, Keim CN, Lins U (2008) Greigite magnetosome membrane ultrastructure in “Candidatus Magnetoglobus multicellularis”. Int Microbiol 11:75-80 2. Abt B, Han C, Scheuner C, Lu M, Lapidus A, Nolan M et al., (2012) Complete genome sequence of the termite hindgut bacterium Spirochaeta coccoides type strain (SPN1T), reclassification in the genus Sphaerochaeta as Sphaerochaeta coccoides comb. nov. and emendations of the family Spirochaetaceae and the genus Sphaerochaeta. Stand Genomic Sci 6:194-209 3. Allen MA, Goh F, Burns BP, Neilan BA (2009) Bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic diversity of smooth and pustular microbial mat communities in the hypersaline lagoon of Shark Bay. Geobiology 7:82-96 4. Banat IM, Franzetti A, Gandolfi I, Bestetti G, Martinotti MG, Fracchia L, Smyth TJ, Marchant R (2010) Microbial biosurfactants production, applications and future potential. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87:427-444 5. Baquero F, Coque TM, Cantón R (2003) Antibiotics, complexity, and evolution. ASM News 69:547-552 6. Berlanga M, Montero MT, Hernández-Borrell J, Guerrero R (2006) Rapid spectrofluorometric screening of poly-hydroxyalkanoate-producing bacteria from microbial mats. Int Microbiol 9:95-102 7. Berlanga M, Aas JA, Paster BJ, Boumenna T, Dewhirst FE, Guerrero R (2008) Phylogenetic diversity and temporal variation in the Spirochaeta populations from two Mediterranean microbial mats. Int Microbiol 11:267-274 8. Berlanga M, Paster BJ, Guerrero R (2009) The taxophysiological paradox: changes in the intestinal microbiota of the xylophagous cockroach Cryptocercus punctulatus depending on the physiological state of the host. Int Microbiol 12:227-236 9. Berlanga M, Paster BJ, Grandcolas P, Guerrero R (2010) Comparison of the gut microbiota from soldier and worker castes of the termite Reticulitermes grassei. Int Microbiol 14:83-93 10. Berlanga M, Miñana-Galbis D, Domènech O, Guerrero R (2012) Enhanced polyhydroxyalkanoates accumulation by Halomonas spp. In artificial biofilms of alginate beads. Int Microbiol 15:191-199 www.cat-science.cat

137

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

Microbial mats

33. Lefèvre CT, Bernadac A, Yu-Zang K, Pradel N, Wu L-F (2009) Isolation and characterization of a magnetotactic bacterial culture from the Mediterranean Sea. Environ Microbiol 11:1646-1657 34. Lefèvre CT, Bazylinski DA (2013) Ecology, diversity, and evolution of magnetotactic bacteria. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 77:497-526 35. Lefèvre CT, Trubitsyn D, Abreu F, Kollnko S, De Almelda LGP, De Vasconcelos ATR, Lins U, Schüler D, Ginet N, Pignol D, Bazylinski DA (2013) Monophyletic origin of magnetotaxis and the first magnetosomes. Environ Microbiol 15:2267-2274 36. Leschine S, Paster BJ, Canale-Parola E (2006) Free-living saccharolytic spirochetes: the genus Spirochaeta. The Prokaryotes, Springer, NY. doi: 10.1007/0-387-30747-8 37. Ley RE, Harris JK, Wilcox J, Spear JR, Miller SR, Bebout BM, Maresca JA, Bryant DA, Sogin ML, Pace NR (2006) Unexpected diversity and complexity of the Guerrero Negro hypersaline microbial mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:3685-3695 38. Lilburn TG, Kim KS, Ostrom NE, Byzek KR, Leadbetter JR, Breznak JA (2001) Nitrogen fixation by symbiotic and free-living spirochetes. Science 292:2495-2498 39. Lin W, Pan Y (2010) Temporal variation of magnetotactic bacterial communities in two freshwater sediment microcosms. FEMS Microbiol Lett 302:85-92 40. Lowe DR (1980) Stromatolites 3,400-Myr old from the Archean of Western Australia. Nature 284:441-443 41. Magot M, Fardeau ML, Arnauld O, et al. (1997) Spirochaeta smaragdinae sp. nov., a new mesophilic strictly anaerobic spirochete from an oil field. FEMS Microbiol Lett 155:185-191 42. Margulis L, Hinkle G, Stolz J, Craft F, Esteve I, Guerrero R (1990) Mobilifilum chasei: Morphology and ecology of a spirochete from an intertidal stratified microbial mat community. Arch Microbiol 153:422-427 43. Margulis L, Ashen JB, Solé M, Guerrero R (1993) Composite, large spirochetes from microbial mats: spirochete structure review. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:6966-6970 44. Margulis L, Navarrete A, Solé M (1998) Cosmopolitan distribution of the large composite microbial mat spirochete, Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi. Int Microbiol 1:27-34 45. Martínez-Alonso M, van Bleijswijk J, Gaju N, Muyzer G (2005) Diversity of anoxygenic phototrophic sulfur bacteria in the microbial mats of the Ebro Delta: a combined morphological and molecular approach. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 52:339-350 46. Miklossy J (2012) Chronic or late Lyme neuroborreliosis: analysis of evidence compared to chronic or late neurosyphilis. Open Neurol J 6(suppl1-M6):146-157 47. Mir J, Martínez-Alonso M, Caumette P, Guerrero R, Esteve I (2002) Sulfide fluxes in a microbial mat from the Ebro Delta, Spain. Int Microbiol 5:133-138 48. Mouné S, Caumette P, Matheron R, Willison JC (2003) Molecular sequence analysis of prokaryotic diversity in the anoxic sediments underlying cyanobacterial mats of two hypersaline ponds in Mediterranean salterns. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 44:117-130 49. Navarrete, A, Peacock, A, Macnaughton, SJ, Urmeneta, J, Mas-Castellà J, White, DC, Guerrero, R (2000) Physiological status and community composition of microbial mats of the Ebro delta, Spain, by signature lipid biomarkers. Microb Ecol 39: 92–99 50. Paerl HW, Pinckney JL, Stepper TF (2000) Cyanobacterial mat consortia: examining the functional unit of microbial survival and growth in extreme environments. Environm Microbiol 2:11-26 51. Paster BJ, Dewhirst FE (2000) Phylogenetic foundation of spirochetes. J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2:341-344 52. Petrisor A, Szyjka S, Kawaguchi T, Visscher PT, Norman RS, Decho AW (2014) Changing microspatial patterns of sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) during cycling of marine stromatolite mats. Int J Mol Sci 15:850-877 53. Philippot L, Andersson SG, Battin TJ, Prosser JL, Schimel JP, Whitman www.cat-science.cat

54.

55.

56.

57. 58.

59.

60.

61. 62.

63. 64. 65.

66.

67.

68. 69.

70.

71.

72. 73.

74.

138

WB, Hallin S (2010) The ecological coherence of high bacterial taxonomic ranks. Nat Rev Microbiol 8:523-529 Reid RP, Visscher PT, Decho AW, Stolz JF, Bebout BM, Dupraz C, Macintyre JG, Paerl HW, Pinckney JL, Prufet-Bebout L, Steppe TF, DesMarais DJ (2000) The role of microbes in accretion, lamination and early lithification of modern marine stromatolites. Nature 406:989-992 Robertson CR, Spear JR, Harris JK, Pace NR (2009) Diversity and stratification of Archaea in a hypersaline microbial mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:1801-1810 Rothermich MM, Guerrero R, Lenz RW, Goodwin S (2000) Characterization, seasonal occurrence, and diel fluctuations of poly(hydroxyalkanoate in photosynthetic microbial mats. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:4279-4291 Schüler D (2002) The biomineralization of magnetosomes in Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense. Int Microbiol 5:209-214 Selimoglu SM, Elibol M (2010) Alginate as an immobilization material for MAb production via encapsulated hybridoma cells. Crit Rev Biotechnol 30:145-159 Sieber JR, McInerney MJ, Gunsalus RP (2012) Genomic insights into syntrophy: the paradigm for anaerobic metabolic cooperation. Annu Rev Microbiol 66:429-452 Simmons SL, Sievert SM, Frankel RB, Bazylinski DA, Edwards KJ (2004) Spatiotemporal distribution of marine magnetotactic bacteria in a seasonally stratified coastal salt pond. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:6230-6239 Solé A, Gaju N, Esteve I (1998) Confocal laser scanning microscopy of Ebro Delta microbial mats. Eur Microsc Analysis, March, pp13-15 Soto G, Setten L, Lisi C, Maurelis C, Mozzicafreddo M, Cuccioloni M, Angeletti M, Ayub ND (2012) Hydroxybutyrate prevents protein aggregation in the halotolerant bacterium Pseudomonas sp. CT13 under abiotic stress. Extremophiles 16:455-462 Stahl DA, Tiedje JM (2002) Microbial ecology and genomics: a crossroads of opportunity. Report Amer Acad Microbiol, ASM Press, Washington DC Stolz JF (2000) Structure of microbial mats and biofilms. In: Riding RE, Awramik SM (eds) Microbial sediments. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 1-8 Stolz JF, Feinstein TN, Salsi J, Visscher PT, Reid RP (2001) TEM analysis of microbial mediated sedimentation and lithification in modern marine stromatolites. Amer Mineralogist 86:826-833 Suenaga H (2012) Targeted metagenomics: a high-resolution metagenomics approach for specific gene clusters in complex microbial communities. Environ Microbiol 14:13-22 Teal TH, Chapman M, Guillemette T, Margulis L (1996) Free-living spirochetes from Cape Cod microbial mats detected by electron microscopy. Microbiología SEM 12:571-584 Tice MM, Lowe DR (2004) Photosynthetic microbial mats in the 3,416-Myr-old ocean. Nature 431:549-552 Tribelli PM, López N (2011) Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) influences biofilm formation and motility in the novel Antarctic species Pseudomonas extremaustralis under cold conditions. Extremophiles 15:541-547 Tytgat B, Verleyen, Obbels D, Peeters K, De Wever A, D’hondt S, De Meyer T, Van Criekinge W, Vyvermann W, Willems A (2014) Bacterial diversity assessment in Antarctic terrestrial and aquatic microbial mats: a comparison between bidirectional pyrosequencing and cultivation. PLoS ONE 9:e97564 Urmeneta J, Alcoba O, Razquín E, Tarroja E, Navarrete A, Guerrero R (1998) Oxygenic photosynthesis and respiratory activity in microbial mats of the Ebro Delta, Spain, by oxygen exchange method. Curr Microbiol 37:151-155 Vernadsky VI (1997) In: The biosphere. Complete annotated edition. Copernicus, Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, USA Villanueva L, Navarrete A, Urmeneta J, White DC, Guerrero R (2004) A combined phospholipid biomarkers and 16S rDNA/DGGE analysis of bacterial diversity and physiological status in an intertidal microbial mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:6920-6926 Villanueva L, Navarrete A, Urmeneta J, Geyer R, Guerrero R, White DC (2007) Monitoring diel variations of physiological status and bacterial di-

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

GUERRERO, BERLANGA

versity in an estuarine microbial mat: an integrated biomarker analysis. Microb Ecol 54:523 75. Villanueva L, Navarrete A, Urmeneta J, White DC, Guerrero R (2007) Analysis of diurnal and vertical microbial diversity of a hypersaline microbial mat. Arch Microbiol doi:10.1007/s00203-007-0229-6 76. Villanueva L, del Campo J, Guerrero R (2010) Diversity and physiology of polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing and -degrading strains in microbial mats. FEMS Microb Ecol 74:42-54 77. Villanueva L, del Campo J, Guerrero R, Geyer R (2010) Intact phospholipid and quinone biomarkers to assess microbial diversity and redox state in microbial mats. Microb Ecol 60:226-238

www.cat-science.cat

78. Visscher PT, Reid RP, Bebout BM (2000) Microscale observations of sulfate reduction: correlation of microbial activity with lithified micritic laminae in modern marine stromatolites. Geology 28:919-922 79. Weller R, Bateson, MR, Heimbuch BR, Kopczynski ED, Ward DM (1992) Uncultivated cyanobacteria, Chloroflexus-like inhabitants, and spirochetelike inhabitants of a hot spring microbial mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 58:3964-3969 80. Wierzchos J, Berlanga M, Ascaso C, Guerrero R (2006) Micromorphological characterization and lithification of microbial mats from the Ebro Delta (Spain). Int Microbiol 9:289-295

139

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 117-139

FORUM AND FOCUS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.173 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals on the basis of international visibility standards Lluís Rovira,1 Laura Serrate-Casado2 1 CERCA Institute, Research Centres of Catalonia, Barcelona, Catalonia Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), Barcelona, Catalonia

Correspondence: Lluís Rovira Institució CERCA Via Laietana, 2 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia E-mail: llrovirap@gencat.cat

Summary. Cultural, geographical, historical, and linguistic factors are inherent to research in the hu-

manities and social sciences, and largely exclusive to these areas. However, the scientific literature has repeatedly shown that citation analysis does not consider the peculiar features of academic journals of those disciplines. Thus, in 2008 the Autonomous Government of Catalonia presented the classification Carhus Plus+, a simple, objective, and reproducible system to measure the profile of academic journals in the humanities and social sciences at the international, state, and local levels from a European perspective. Carhus Plus+ classifies journals in areas of knowledge and groups them into qualitative levels. The variables used in the classification are: impact factor, preferably, or visibility of the journal in the databases; journal format, type of editorial board, and the article-review system. In addition, it considers the special nature of the areas of economics, law, and Catalan studies. Keywords: Carhus Plus+ · humanities and social sciences evaluation · scientific journals ·

article citation analysis Resum. Els factors culturals, geogràfics, històrics o lingüístics són inherents en la investigació en

humanitats i ciències socials, i exclusius d’aquestes àrees. La literatura científica ha mostrat repetidament que l’anàlisi de cites no té en compte la casuística específica de les revistes científiques d’aquestes disciplines. La Generalitat de Catalunya va presentar el 2008 la classificació Carhus Plus+, un sistema senzill, objectiu i reproduïble per mesurar el perfil de les revistes científiques d’aquestes àrees a escala internacional, estatal i local des d’una perspectiva europea. Aquest article descriu la metodologia desenvolupada. Carhus Plus+ classifica les revistes segons les àrees de coneixement i les agrupa segons nivells qualitatius. Les variables considerades per a la classificació són: el factor d’impacte, preferentment, o visibilitat de les revistes en les bases de dades; el format de la revista, el tipus de consell editorial i la revisió dels articles. A més, també té en compte les especificitats de les àrees d’economia, dret i catalanística. Paraules clau: Carhus Plus+ · avaluació d’humanitats i ciències socials · revistes científiques ·

anàlisi de cites d’articles científics

THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES THE SYSTEM CREATED by Catalonia’s Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) to classify journals and thereby to assist both researchers in producing publications and their peers in reviewing academic output. By way of introduction, the Thomson-Reuters databases have, despite their limitations, been used for several www.cat-science.cat

decades to classify journals, although other tools (mainly Scopus) have since emerged. Bibliometric tools have the advantage of providing a theoretically objective system for generating indicators on publications by means of a reproducible methodology. The impact factor (IF), calculated annually by measuring the citations of articles in journals indexed in the 141

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals

Web of Science (WoS) database, is the benchmark indicator for analyzing academic journals, particularly in the fields of the experimental sciences, engineering, basic research, and some of the social sciences. By using the IF and other indicators derived from it, it is possible to identify the journals that publish the most influential articles within their field at an international level. Thomson-Reuters uses highly selective criteria for including journals in their WoS. These criteria are based on the journal’s formal quality standards, so that the articles can be accurately identified in bibliographic databases, with respect to their editorial content and international representativeness, and in citation analyses. The humanities and some of the social sciences, with their strong social, geographical, and linguistic components, differ from the above-mentioned scientific fields. Additionally, monographs, rather than journals, are the main form of publication, especially in the humanities. Consequently, the tradition of citation is still incipient amongst authors publishing in these fields at an international level, such that journals cannot be effectively ranked on this basis. Moreover, in the humanities and social sciences a large number of the articles are published in languages other than English, which makes international citation all the more difficult [13]. A clear example of the limitation of the IF in the humanities is that Thomson-Reuters does not publish a Journal Citation Report for the humanities and therefore does not calculate an IF for journals in the field. WoS subscribes to the theory (which is debatable in some specialist fields) that academic output is mostly published in the English language, as ThomsonReuters explains [18] in its selection criteria. As a result, compared to world scientific production, WoS journals in English are overrepresented in its databases [1,14]. In their comparative study of various academic journal lists, Hicks and Wang [7] concluded that journals published by large publishers in English and having a long publishing history have the greatest chance of being included in those lists. Although Thomson-Reuters has, in the last decade, significantly increased the number of non-English-language journals, recent studies [9,12] have shown that for the humanities and social sciences WoS coverage is still very modest. Not surprisingly then, academics in these areas frequently complain about the invisibility of their publications when measured with globally standardized bibliographic citation indicators. Within the humanities and social sciences, there is great variability between disciplines and specialist subjects. Whilst the publication model for some disciplines, such as economics and psychology, is close to that of the experimental sciences, journals covering other areas are influenced by factors inextricably linked to the cultural, geographical, historical, or linguistic considerations inherent in the object of study itself [9,12]. This leads to a lack of journals of reference with both an international and a local presence. In certain disciplines, such as www.cat-science.cat

law, linguistics, literature, and history, publication rates in international journals are low and there is a greater diversity of dominant languages. Thus, any assessment of intellectual output in these fields requires that these factors be taken into account. The direct application of numerical measurement tools to dissimilar fields results in an unrealistic analysis of the quality and impact of bibliographic output [6,8,12]. In short, citation dynamics in the humanities and many of the social sciences are still in their infancy and unrepresentative. This means that the representativeness and quality of the respective journals can only be appreciated by combining the aforementioned databases with other indicators.

Other bibliometric indicators As an alternative, the Elsevier’s Scopus endorsed, in 2010, two other journal metrics: the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) and the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), developed by two teams of Scopus partners and bibliometrics experts. Scopus is a database that offers a wide coverage of journals, particularly in the humanities [3]. SNIP indicators are such that they better fit the characteristics of publications in the humanities and social sciences [3]. First of all, the greater coverage of non-Anglo-Saxon journals by Scopus than by other international databases means the inclusion of a higher number of journals published in other geographical contexts. In addition, an extended 3-year time window for the calculation of Scopus indicators, instead of the 2 years of the IF, is more representative of the characteristics of the humanities and social sciences. Finally, taking into account the different citation habits of the various humanities and social sciences journals, the fact that the SNIP normalizes calculation of the indicator according to the characteristics of the citation’s research subject and the likelihood of citation within the database allows the comparison of indicators, both within a subject and between subjects. The SJR, and especially the redefined new version, SJR2, recognizes the value of citations from closely related journals, compensates for an ever increasing volume of journals, and facilitates comparison by setting an average value equal to one. Additional alternatives are the tools created by government agencies for academic assessment in the humanities and social sciences: France’s Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher education (AERES), the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the European Science Foundation (ESF), with its European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) classification, are some examples. These bodies publish lists of the academic journals of reference in each discipline; these are normally selected by consulting scientists and academics, either by forming panels or by sending out surveys. The lists include a large number of journals and are drawn up with the participation of the researchers to whom they provide ser142

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

ROVIRA, SERRATE-CASADO

vice. In addition, given that the lists are an instrument of public R&D&I policy, they tend to guarantee a process of debate and public consultation. Nonetheless, some analyses have stressed the lack of neutrality of such lists [15]. Other international initiatives include the Latindex project [see Appendix and article by C. Chica, this issue, pp 151157], which Spain joined in 1999. The products developed by Latindex include a comprehensive inventory, in the form of a directory, of scholarly journals that have passed a selection process based on a review of 33 variables covering the publication’s standards, quality of its editorial processes, and its dissemination. However, it provides no assessment nor does it measure indicators or establish rankings. Latindex’s function is, then, one of qualitative assessment aimed at the journals’ own self-assessment. AGAUR regards this as a solid benchmark for measuring the formal quality of the included journals. Compliance with academic journal publication standards ensures accurate identification of articles through bibliographic databases, and their presence in the latter increases the dissemination of the journals themselves. The importance of the ERIH humanities index is that it is a European approach to classifying the core European humanities journals and to highlighting research published in European languages. ERIH is an index of journals drawn up by expert panels. The lists published by the ESF break down journals into 14 disciplines, placing them into three categories based on their international significance, visibility, and influence. According to the ERIH website, these categories are not intended to be hierarchical, but rather descriptive. The classification has been published in two editions, 2007 and 2011, although in the latter the lists for archaeology and religious studies have yet to be published. Spain, too, has witnessed the development of a number of journal evaluation and analysis projects that focus on the humanities and social sciences. The bibliometric indices InRecs (Índice de Impacto de Revistas Españolas de Ciencias Sociales) and In-Recjs (Índice de Impacto de Revistas Españolas de Ciencias Jurídicas) originated at the University of Granada and are based on the methodology of the IF. Beginning in 2004 but recently discontinued, In-Recs calculated an impact index for a total of 761 Spanish social science journals on the basis of the extraction of the references made in 154 source journals. In-Recjs calculated the impact index for law journals whose intellectual output is aimed mainly at Spanish researchers. It thus highlighted the problems with the Thomson-Reuters IF, which drew on the references described in 64 source journals to calculate the IF for 340 journals. Unfortunately, because neither In-Recs nor In-Rejs is currently being updated they can no longer be a robust reference for journal evaluation. In 2005, the Government of Catalonia introduced the Carhus list of scientific journals. This journal classification www.cat-science.cat

system was designed to support evaluation activities in the humanities and social sciences. Journals from a large variety of sources, both national and international, were included. The Directorate General for Research then charged AGAUR with the system’s upkeep, which led to a redefinition of its assessment criteria (as explained below) and to its re-naming. As Carhus Plus+, it would be published periodically (every 2–3 years). A the end of 2010, the Integrated Classification of Scientific Journals (CIRC, Clasificación Integrada de Revistas Científicas), a Spanish quantitative classification of journals from the social sciences and humanities was introduced by some researchers in bibliometry [18]. CIRC is based on the aggregation of different already-existing products: the Journal Citation Reports and the master lists of the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) and the Science Citation Index (SCI); the SJR and the master list of the Scopus database; In-Recs and In-Recj; the Difusión y Calidad Editorial de las Revistas Españolas de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas index (DICE); the Latindex indices; and the ERIH classification. Journals are assessed indirectly on the basis of their presence in these products and their respective evaluations, thereby establishing a hierarchical classification consisting of five categories. This methodology is clearly modeled on that of Carhus Plus+ with regard to both the definition of the journal universe and the classification of the journals. However, the last CIRC version available is that of 2012; since then, the classification of the journals might have changed, such that the use of the CIRC website for subsequent years is questioned. There are also other projects aimed at measuring the visibility of journals in databases. For example, the Information Matrix for the Analysis of Journals (MIAR), a journal ranking platform at the University of Barcelona, is based on database coverage through the ICDS (Secondary Diffusion Index) (Table 1)[17]. Table 1. Summary of the diﬀerent factors analyzed by the Information Matrix for the Analysis of Journals (MIAR) and Carhus Plus+ in the year 2010. The current version of MIAR has added new inputs in order to calculate the ICDS (Secondary Diﬀusion Index). ICDS (MIAR) http://miar.ub.edu/como.php Multidisciplinary databases Specialized databases Age of the journal (Index Ulrich) Survival CARHUS http://www10.gencat.net/agaur_web/

143

ICDS (MIAR)

50%

Format parameters

25%

Peer review system

12.5%

Editorial committee

12.5%

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals

The methodology for journal inclusion. As noted above,

The CARHUS Plus+ classification of academic journals

Carhus Plus+ assumes that other indices and classifications have already developed selection processes for academic journals. Taking advantage of these products, it creates a universe of journals for subsequent classification. The documentary sources are: the 2007 European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH); research groups recognized by the Government of Catalonia during 2005 in the fields of social sciences and the humanities; the Impact Index for Spanish Social Science Journals (In-Recs); Spanish Social Science and Humanities journals (RESH); National Citation Reports for Spain 1981–2006; the 2007 and 2009 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) for the social sciences; collective proposals made to AGAUR by (mainly Catalan) universities and research centers; Catalan journals in the fields of language, literature, and history, according to specific sources [2,5,11]. Carhus Plus+ classifies journals into thirteen fields of knowledge (Table 2). Those with only a small number of journals in Carhus Plus+ have been combined with other disciplines. For example, architecture journals are to be found with those of the arts; town planning with those of geography; sport journals with those of education; and translation and interpreting with those in philology, linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Journals on the history and philosophy of science are classified with their respective academic fields of science; thus, journals on history of education, for example, are classified in education.

In 1996, the Scientific and Technical Assessment Council (CONACIT) of the Inter-ministerial Council for Research and Technological Innovation (CIRIT) of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia proposed a system for research into the humanities and social sciences, including publications prepared for different interuniversity committees to establish the criteria for evaluation. This culminated in the Carhus list of journals, in 2005. Subsequently, and based on this first version, the Government of Catalonia’s Directorate General for Research charged AGAUR with drawing up a classification of journals that reflected the academic reality in Catalonia. In 2008, Carhus Plus+ appeared. As a second, improved edition of the 2005 Carhus list, it offered a methodology for assessing journals—at a reasonable cost and with sufficient quality—at international as well as Spanish state and local levels. The general objectives of Carhus Plus+ are to identify journals of national and international reference in all disciplines of the social sciences and humanities and thus to provide support in scientific assessment processes. Additionally, Carhus Plus+ set itself the initial goal of establishing journals of reference in the field of Catalan studies, defined as research in the fields of Catalan history, language, and literature. One key assumption in drawing up Carhus Plus+ was that all fields should have at least some journals in the highest classification category (group A, described below). In preparing Carhus Plus+, it was considered vital to ensure both an ongoing dialogue with researchers from research centers and a certain degree of methodological consensus.

Assessing journals. Carhus Plus+ classifies journals into four groups, A, B, C, and D (Table 2), with group A being the best regarded (Table 3). The factors considered for the classi-

Table 2. Subject areas in Carhus Plus+ and number of journals in each category Subject area

Anthropology

Arts

109

Communication and Information

Economics

115

Education

166

139

104

General or multidisciplinarya

151

104

109

Geography and Town Planning

History

250

131

210

Law

102

193

Philology, Linguistics and Sociolinguistics

399

176

227

Philosophy

132

Psychology

226

298

Religious Studies

Sociology and Politics

167

174

Featuring journals that are diﬃcult to classify within other fields.

www.cat-science.cat

144

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

ROVIRA, SERRATE-CASADO

Table 3. Journals for Catalan studies included in Group A of CARHUS Plus+. Title of the journals Afers. Fulls de recerca i pensament (Matters. Papers on Research and Thought) Articles de didàctica de la llengua i de la literatura (Articles on Language and Literature Didactics) Ausa. Publicació del patronat d’estudis osonencs (Ausa. Publication of the Board of Studies about Vic, Barcelona) Caplletra. Revista internacional de filologia (Caplletra. International Journal of Philology) Catalan Historical Review Catalan Journal in Linguistics Catalan Review. International Journal of Catalan Culture Els marges. Revista de llengua i literatura catalana (Els marges. Journal of Catalan Language and Literature) Estudios de fonética experimental (Studies on Experimental Phonetics) Estudis romànics (Studies on Romanesque Art) Estudis. Revista de historia moderna (Studies. Journal of Modern History) Faventia. Revista de filologia clàssica (Faventia. Journal of Classical Philology) Manuscrits. Revista d’història moderna (Manuscripts. Journal of Modern History) Pyrenae Quaderns de filologia. Estudis lingüístics (Journal of Philology. Studies on Linguistics) Quaderns. Revista de traducció (Quaderns. Journal of Translation) Revista de llengua i dret (Journal of Language and Law)

fication are: (i) the IF, preferably, or, in its absence, the visibility of the journals in databases (in the Secondary Diffusion Index (ICDS); see below); (ii) journal format; (iii) editorial committee type; and (iv) review process of original articles. Journals with a presence in WoS databases or with a ICDS classification of 9.7 or higher are included in group A and are not further assessed for factors 1, 2, and 3. In fact, since they have already been evaluated by Thomson-Reuters, evaluating them anew would be redundant. The remaining journals have been evaluated according to the following criteria: (i) The ICDS calculates the dissemination of journals in a variety of academic journal databases and directories, both national and international, establishing an indicator scale from 0 to 9.9. This index is the result of a project carried out by the University of Barcelona’s Librarianship and Documentation Faculty research group, headed by Cristóbal Urbano and accessible on the MIAR website [http://miar.ub.edu]. Carhus Plus+ has stipulated an exception for the field of law, as it suffers from a lack of visibility in the databases collated by MIAR. Thus, a correction factor of +50% has been applied to the ICDS for law journals, calculated on the basis of their lack of international database coverage. (ii) Carhus Plus+ analyzes compliance with minimum core standards for academic publications, specifically: (a) fulfillment of the declared publication frequency or the publishing of the declared number of issues for the year— reviewed by consulting the journal’s own website, for journals with an electronic version, or by means of library catalogues for the others; (b) the provision of instructions for authors, either in the journal itself or on its website; (c) consistent mention of the auwww.cat-science.cat

thors’ affiliations; (d) the inclusion of keywords for every article; and (e) the appearance of an English abstract of the article. (iii) Also considered is the composition of the journal’s editorial board, either (a) internal, with all members belonging to the publishing institution; (b) external, with all members belonging to different institutions in the same country; or (c) international, with members from different institutions and countries. (iv) The journal must also have a system of independent reviewers to assess articles submitted for publication (peer review). Compliance with this requirement was evaluated on the basis of mention made by the journal itself, either in the instructions to authors or in the form of published information on the reviewers in the first or last issue of the year. Considering these factors, journals are assigned to one of four groups, A, B, C, and D (see Table 2), with group A comprising journals of the highest ranking. Group A journals meet at least one of the following criteria: (a) presence in the SSCI, A&HCI, or SCI, according to the last published Master Journal List or the JCR; (b) an ICDS score of 9.7 or higher within the MIAR classification, which implies a presence in A&HCI, SCI, SSCI or Scopus; (c) for journals in the fields of Catalan history, language, and literature, given their difficulty in gaining inclusion within international databases, the use of alternative criteria similar to those for categories B, C and D, in which international databases coverage as a main classifying factor is not necessary. The percentage of journals in a specific field that can belong to group A is limited to 40% of the total number of journals for that field in Carhus Plus+. Once this cut-off of 40% is 145

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals

reached, the journal is assigned to group B rather than group A even if it meets the cited requirements. Journals in the field of Catalan studies fulfill the criteria of groups B, C, and D. Nonetheless, the best-ranked amongst them, with an ICDS score >3, are included in group A (Table 3), even if they do not comply with the conditions stipulated for this group. Journals with no presence in any of the Thomson-Reuters databases or with an ICDS score below 9.7 are evaluated for inclusion in groups B, C, and D. Their compliance with the above-described criteria are assessedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with each of these factors regarded as a variableâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and assigned a value. The ICDS score accounts for 50%, publication standards for 25%, and the review system and composition of the editorial board for 12.5% each (Table 1).

of the authors were from the US. Additionally, the bibliography indicated that US journals featured a low percentage of citations of foreign authors [4]. After discussing these aspects with leading researchers at the Law Faculties of Catalan universities, several improvements were introduced: (a) new European law journals were included at the proposal of the Law Schools of Catalan public universities (263 journals were entered into Carhus Plus+). (b) The 55 above-mentioned journals were eliminated (55 publications) because the level of publication in those journals by Catalan and Spanish law researchers was too low to allow an assessment of their publication record. (c) Finally, acknowledging that MIAR does not cover the most representative law databases, the above cited correction factor was applied to improve the visibility of law journals, as noted above.

Published results

Economics journals. In the field of economics, as in the hard sciences, the IF is an indicator that the journal is well established and accepted by the research community. After discussion with leading researchers in the field, it was agreed to remove 63 low-ranked journals from the Carhus Plus+ group B classification because they were either in quartiles 3 and 4 of the JCR or they did not appear in this index at all. This served to concentrate the ranking of journals of reference.

On October 2010 a preliminary version of the Carhus Plus+ list of journals was published, with journals classified into groups A, B, C, and D. In addition, a feedback period was established by the university and research communities. After one year, during which AGAUR received comments and amendments from publishers and researchers on a previously presented version, Carhus Plus+ 2010 was published. The Carhus Plus+ system thus took advantage of input from researchers, editors, universities and all other members of the Catalan research system with professional interest in the classification. There are still 820 journals that might at some point be included in Carhus Plus+ (Fig. 1), but which have not yet been classified because they are held in libraries outside Catalonia (and mostly outside Spain); although they may be accessible electronically, they are not open access journals, such that certain aspects, e.g., format, can be assessed only with difficulty. Usually these journals are published in German, Hungarian, Russian, or other languages. The outcome of applying what has been published to date is shown in Table 2. Carhus Plus+ is updated periodically. As part of this updating process, the values of all the variables are recalculated and the journals are accordingly reclassified. There are two exceptions to the methodology detailed above: law journals and economics journals.

Discussion and conclusions The cultural, geographical, historical, and linguistic factors associated with research in the humanities and social sciences do not occur in other fields, in which citation indices have consolidated their position as the main indicators for assessing academic output. Consequently, the IF is used extensively only in a few social science disciplines and not at all in the humanities. It has also been argued that English-language journals predominate in the Thomson-Reuters databases. To overcome the limitations of the IF and similar indices, humanities and social science publications must be assessed using tools that encompass a broader spectrum of international, national, and local journals. Assessing intellectual output in these fields requires that their specificities be taken into account. Carhus Plus+ is a classification system for humanities and social science journals that, in the case of the latter, also takes into account citation indices in their assessment. Carhus Plus+ analyzes journals from two complementary viewpoints: (i) the visibility of the journal in representative social science and humanities databases and (ii) based on the observance of certain editorial quality standards that ensure both visibility in databases and the evaluation of content. Note that the classification methodology is reproducible and objective, and therefore transparent. In addition, it is an information system representing academic journals aimed at three groups of interest:

Law journals. In the field of law, the internationalization of

academic output has proceeded more slowly than in other disciplines because of the particular impact of the local and national peculiarities of the legal culture. Furthermore, generally speaking, legal research is disseminated mostly by means of specialist databases, rather than through multidisciplinary channels. A search of all articles indexed in WoS in 2010 showed that, in 55 of the 87 journals appearing in the first version of Carhus Plus+ 2010â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s law category, at least 70% www.cat-science.cat

146

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

ROVIRA, SERRATE-CASADO

12.5%

12.5% 50%

25%

Fig. 1. Four journals included in the Carhus Plus+ classification, three of them published by the IEC. Mètode is published by the University of Valencia

Firstly, Carhus Plus+ provides support for the assessment of academic output published in journals. In fact, the classification is mostly aimed at analyzing currently existing journals. As a result, Carhus Plus+ can be used to assess bibliographic output after 2005 (the year in which Carhus first appeared) but not before. However, its application would be difficult in the assessment of long-term curricula without also using other sources. However, Carhus Plus+ can be used to evaluate the scientific track record of groups and researchers applying for research funding, in combination with peer review. Secondly, it serves as an index of reference for researchers and university academics when it comes to ascertaining where to submit their work for publication. Carhus Plus+ is www.cat-science.cat

a guide that can be used to select journals with the greatest impact at the local, Spanish, and international levels. It is also useful in identifying those journals that do not meet the criteria for an academic journal, such as journals in groups C and, particularly, D. Rather, publication in group A and B journals, i.e., those with the highest impact and international visibility, is preferable. AGAUR—as a body belonging to the Autonomous Government of Catalonia—has chosen to establish mechanisms that promote research in Catalan studies. However, this does not imply inequality for the other journals in the fields of philology, linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Researchers in Catalan studies should aim for publication in journals included in international databases, preferably those of Thomson-Reuters 147

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals

or Scopus. Carhus Plus+ is applicable to academic journals in the humanities and social science, whether Spanish or European. As this was one of the objectives from the very start of the project, Spain’s main journal indices were used in its development. Moreover, it was the first classification system in Spain to combine different sources of information and, with an emphasis on visibility, to classify journals in the humanities and in the social sciences, thereby allowing their comparison within an international context. Publishers comprise the third group for whom the classification is potentially of use. Carhus Plus+ can alert publishers to the need for better dissemination of their journals. Indeed, over the years in which Carhus Plus+ has been compiling data on journals, numerous publishers have approached AGAUR to ask how they can improve their publishing processes. The methodology of Carhus Plus+ has the virtue of being applicable to any of the academic journals that periodically contact AGAUR for assessment. In summary, the utility of Carhus Plus+ as a classification system for evaluating research projects submitted to AGAUR can be extended to any other organization assessing Spanish academic output.

7. 8.

10. 11.

12. 13.

14.

15.

Conflict of interests. None declared.

References

16.

17.

Archambault E, Vignola-Gagne E, Côte G, Larivière V, Gingras Y (2006) Benchmarking scientific output in the social sciences and humanities: The limits of existing databases. Scientometrics 68:329-342 Ardanuy-Baró J (2008) A bibliometric analysis of scientific production in Catalan literature. University of Barcelona, Catalonia, 332 pp [Doctoral thesis] [http://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/767] (In Catalan) Colledge L, de Moya-Anegón F, Guerrero-Bote V, López-Illescas C, El Aisati M, Moed HF (2010) SJR and SNIP: two new journal metrics in Elsevier’s Scopus. Serials 23:215-221 Doyle, J. (2004). Ranking legal periodicals and some other numeric uses of the Westlaw and Lexis periodical databases. Legal Reference Services Quarterly, 23(2-3), 1-53

www.cat-science.cat

18.

19.

148

Duran i Grau E, Castellanos Vila J, Martínez Romero T, Solervicens i Bo J, Sullà E (2005) Catalan philology: Literature. In: Reports on Catalan Research 1996-2002. Institute for Catalan Studies, Barcelona, pp 831-879 (In Catalan) Glanzel W, Schoepflin, U (1999) A bibliometric study of reference literature in the sciences and social sciences. Information Processing and Management 35:31-44 Hicks D, Wang J (2011) Coverage and overlap of the new social sciences and humanities journal lists. J Am Soc Inf Sci Tec 62:284-294 Huang MH, Chang YW (2008) Characteristics of research output in social sciences and humanities: from a research evaluation perspective. J Am Soc Inf Sci Techn 59:1819-1828 Larivière V, Macaluso B (2011) Improving the coverage of social science and humanities researchers. Output: the case of the Érudit journal platform. J Am Soc Inf Sci Tec 62: 2437-2442. DOI: 10.1002/asi.21632 Malana Ureña A, Román Román A, Cruz Rubio M (2007) International visibility of Spanish journals on history (In Spanish). Scr Nova 11(234) Martí i Castell J, Massanell i Messalles M (2005) Catalan philology: Language (In Catalan). In: Reports on Catalan Research 1996-2002. Institute for Catalan Studies, Barcelona, Catalonia, pp 831-879 Moed HF (2005) Citation analysis in research evaluation. Springer, Dordrecht Nederhof A, Luwel M, Moed HF (2001) Assessing the quality of scholarly journals in linguistics: an alternative to citation-based journal impact factors. Scientometrics 51:241-265 Nederhof A (2006) Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the social sciences and the humanities: A review. Scientometrics 66:81100 Pontille D, Torny D (2010) The controversial policies of journal ratings: evaluating social sciences and humanities. Research Evaluation 19:347– 360 Rodríguez-Gairin JM, Fernández Somoza M, Urbano C (2011) MIAR: Towards a collaborative environment for journal publishers, authors and evaluators (In Spanish). Prof Inform 16:137-148. Rodríguez-Gairin JM, Fernández Somoza M, Urbano C. (2010) Matriu d’Informació per a l’avaluació de revistes [http://miar.ub.edu/2010] [Consulted: 26/06/2014] Testa J (2012) The Thomson Reuters journal selection process. Web of science, Thompson Reuters [http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/ science/free/essays/journal_selection_process] [Consulted: 19/06/ 2012] Torres-Salinas D, Bordons M, Giménez-Toledo E, Delgado-López-Cózar E, Jiménez-Contreras E, Sanz-Casado E (2010) Intgrated classification of scientific journals (CIRC): proposal of categorization of social and human sciences journals. Prof Inform 19:675-683 (In Spanish)

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

ROVIRA, SERRATE-CASADO

APPENDIX. Latindex evaluation criteria Criteria fixed by Latindex for the evaluation of scientific journals published in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal. There are 33 criteria for printed journals and 36 for electronic journals. For a journal to be incorporated into the Latindex catalogue, it must fulfill all basic criteria and at least 75% of all criteria. Evaluation criteria are presented here in its translation into Catalan. The original text, written in Spanish, and its translation into English, are presented in the next article, by C. Chica, pp 151-157, this issue.

Catalan Criteris per a revistes impreses

Criteris per a revistes digitals

Característiques bàsiques (cal complir-les totes) 1.

Menció del cos Editorial.

Contingut. Com a mínim el 40 % dels treballs seran: a) articles originals inèdits, b) informes tècnics, c) ponències o comunicacions a congressos, d) cartes a l’editor o articles breus, e) revisions, f) ressenyes de llibres.

Contingut. Com a mínim el 40% dels treballs seran: a) articles originals inèdits, b) informes tècnics, c) ponències o comunicacions a congressos, d) cartes a l’editor o articles breus, e) revisions, f) ressenyes de llibres.

Antiguitat mínima 1 any.

Generació contínua de continguts.

Identificació dels autors amb el nom sencer.

Identifiació dels autors amb el nom sencer.

Lloc d’edició.

Entitat editora.

Menció del director.

Menció de la URL de la revista.

Menció de l’adreça de la revista.

Menció de lʼadreça de la revista.

Característiques de presentació de la revista 9.

Pàgines de presentació. Títol complet, ISSN, volum, número, data i capçalera bibliogràfica.

Navegació i funcionalitat. Es recomana un màxim de tres clics per accedir a qualsevol contingut.

10.

Menció de la periodicitat.

11.

Taula de continguts o índex.

Accés als continguts.

12.

Capçalera bibliogràfica a lʼinici de cada article. Ha dʼincloure, com a mínim, el títol i la numeració de la revista.

Accés històric al contingut. Per un temps mínim de tres anys (si la revista té més de tres anys).

13.

Capçalera bibliogràfica a cada pàgina.

14.

Membres del consell editorial.

15.

Afiliació institucional dels membres del consell editorial.

16.

Afiliació dels autors.

17.

Data de recepció i dʼacceptació dels originals.

Característiques de gestió i política editorial 18.

ISSN.

19.

Definició de la revista. Objectius, cobertura temàtica i/o públic al qual va dirigida.

20.

Sistema de revisió. Indicació del procediment per a la selecció dʼarticles.

21.

Avaluadors externs.

22.

Autors externs. Com a mínim el 50 % dels treballs publicats han de ser dʼautors externs a lʼentitat editora.

23.

Apertura editorial. Com a mínim dos terços del consell editorial seran aliens a lʼentitat editora.

24.

Serveis dʼinformació. Ha d’estar inclosa en índexs, directoris o bases de dades.

25.

Compliment de la periodicitat.

www.cat-science.cat

149

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

Carhus Plus+: A classification of social science and humanities journals

Característiques dels continguts 26.

Contingut original. Com a mínim el 40% del contingut seran treballs dʼinvestigació originals, resultats de recerca o creació original.

27.

Instruccions als autors. Informació sobre els estàndards i normes de la revista.

28.

Elaboració de las referències bibliogràfiques.

29.

Exigència dʼoriginalitat.

30.

Resum.

31.

Resum en dos idiomes.

32.

Paraules clau.

33.

Paraules clau en dos idiomes.

34.

–

Metaetiquetes. Conjunt de dades per a la identificació y/o descripció d’una font d’informació per a la seva recuperació (molts cercadors usen informació emmagatzemada en metaetiquetes per a indexar pàgines web).

35.

–

Cercadors. Inclusió dʼalgun cercador per paraules, índexs, etc.

36.

–

Serveis de valor afegit. Alertes, enllaços hipertexctuals, fòrums, guies d’enllaços, etc.

www.cat-science.cat

150

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 141-150

FORUM AND FOCUS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.174 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment Carmen Chica INTERNATIONAL MICROBIOLOGY, Barcelona, Catalonia

Correspondence: International Microbiology Poblet 15, 3r 3a 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia Tel. +34 933 341 079 Fax: +34 933 341 079 E-mail: cchica@microbios.org

Summary. The need for a tool to determine the status of scientific publications in Latin America

and the Caribbean, their subsequent classification, and their evaluation gave rise to Latindex. Despite the complex and difficult work needed to launch this project, its designers at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) were convinced of the usefulness of their idea and they benefited from the cooperation of researchers in charge of potential member publications. Today, Latindex is a widely spread tool, a portal of portals, with nearly 25,000 journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. It is both a directory and a catalogue, offers links to electronic journals, serves as a warehouse of information on products and services useful for editorial work, and includes a publication guide. Moreover, the Latindex criteria are a frame of reference for the self-evaluation and updating of journals by their officers, as well as for the incorporation of these publications into the Latindex system. Keywords: Latindex system · Latindex criteria · evaluation of scientific journals · scientific dissemi-

nation · science assessment Resum. La necessitat d’un instrument per conèixer la situació de les publicacions científiques a l’Amèrica Llatina i el Carib, per a la seva posterior classificació i avaluació, va impulsar la creació de Latindex. Malgrat la tasca complexa i difícil per engegar el projecte, els seus impulsors, de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México estaven convençuts de la utilitat de la seva idea i van comptar amb la col·laboració d’investigadors responsables de publicacions que podrien participar en el projecte. Avui, Latindex és una eina de gran difusió, un portal de portals, amb prop de 25.000 revistes de l’Amèrica Llatina, el Carib, Espanya i Portugal. És alhora un directori i un catàleg, ofereix enllaços a revistes electròniques, i serveix com un magatzem d’informació sobre productes i serveis d’utilitat editorial i inclou una guia per a publicacions. A més, els criteris Latindex són un marc de referència per a l’autoavaluació i l’actualització de les revistes per part dels seus responsables, així com per a la incorporació d’aquestes revistes al sistema Latindex. Paraules clau: sistema Latindex · criteris Latindex · avaluació de revistes científiques ·

difusió científica · avaluació de la ciència

The beginnings

an instrument for making the scientific work developed in those countries known to researchers throughout the world. Coordinated and well conducted efforts over time led to the Latindex we know today [1]. The initiative gradually took shape in two meetings held in Guadalajara, Mexico, within the framework of the prestigious Book Fair of that city. The

The Latindex project started in the late 1990s as a regional initiative, initially for Latin America and the Caribbean, but with the almost immediate inclusion of Spain and Portugal [3,4,5]. From the beginning, its promoters sought to create www.cat-science.cat

151

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment

Fig. 1. Cover of the books published on the occasion of the two meetings on scientific publications in Latin America, in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1994 (left), and 1997 (right).

first of those meetings, held in 1994, was a workshop on scientific publications in Latin America, during which the foundations of the project were discussed. In 1997, at the second workshop, the document “Latindex, a dos años de su concepción” (Latindex, two years after its conception), was presented (Fig. 1). The author of this article participated in this second meeting, which would lead to the publication of a book [5,10] with contributions by the participants (Fig. 2). In a first phase, information on the existing journals in the various areas of knowledge was collected, followed by the setting of standards, criteria, and quality indicators for evaluation. It was an arduous task given the number of publications of many types, including magazines, journals,

newsletters, reports, and other forms of documentation. Each professional group, whether in the experimental or the social sciences, had a written medium in which its members could communicate the results of their research, news of interest, theses, grant announcements, etc. Thus, while these groups were invested in the ultimate success of the project, much analysis and classification were needed to determine where and how to start. Initially, a directory was created that listed the quality criteria for the inclusion of publications in the catalog and their subsequent indexing. In addition, some of these products were deemed eligible to participate in the call for grant proposals, with the awardees subject to periodic assessment.

Fig. 2. Photo of the group attending the Second Workshop on Latin American Scientific Journals, Guadalajara, Mexico, 27–29 November, 1997. The author is on the middle row, fifth from left to right.

www.cat-science.cat

152

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

CHICA

Ana María Cetto, of the UNAM, was the main responsible for the project’s success, jointly with her team. Their efforts resulted in the participation of a large number of journal editors, representing virtually all countries included in Latindex.

Ana María Cetto (Mexico, DF, Mexico; 1946) earned her Ph.D. in Physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her extensive research in theoretical physics has led to significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics, stochastic electrodynamics, and the interaction of light with matter. In addition, she has a long career in international organizations, among others as the President of the Pugwash Conferences (Nobel Peace Prize 1995), as a member of the Council of the University of the United Nations, and as Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), located at Vienna, Austria (entity that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005), where she also served as Director of the Department of Technical Cooperation. In 2002, she became the first Latin American woman elected General Secretary of the International Council for Science (ICSU), a position she held until 2008. She has been Vice-President of the Commission of Physics for the Development of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), a member of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications and of its Committee on Science & Technology in Developing Countries. She was Vice-President of the Third World Organization for Women in Science, and President of the Board of the International Foundation for Science. She worked as a consultant in the organization of the World Conference on Science, Budapest, 2000. She was the main driver of the Latindex project and is currently its president.

The Latindex system Projection and dissemination. Latindex has evolved to become an information and consultation system for journals published in the member regions. In addition, it has contributed to their dissemination and maintenance but also to improving their scientific quality. Thus, the system has many of the same functions as scientific publishers or similar, well-established and powerful entities in managing its products [6,9] (Table 1). Table 1. Latindex in numbers* Product

Number of journals included

Directory

22,795

Catalog

7,616

Link to electronic journals

5,913

*The data are updated continuously, with the addition of new titles.

From the beginning, cooperation between Latindex and research institutions has been essential to gather and disseminate information on the serial scientific publications produced in the region. In turn, the project has encouraged the participation of a great number of people, both research and non-research personnel, who have signed on with enthusiasm. The realization of Latindex has meant the recognition of work performed with conviction but often with little visibility beyond the people concerned. At the same time, it has provided encouragement for further efforts, by offering the benefits derived from professionalism and the experience of working together. Latindex, today. Latindex functions as an online informa-

tion system for the scientific, technical, and cultural dissemination of journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. These publications are searched through a directory, catalog, or link to electronic journals. The portal [http://www.latindex.org] provides information on the number of journals by subject, region, country, editorial team, and indexing. Also available are several products and services that are very useful for matters of importance to publications. The management structure of Latindex consists of a president, a general secretary, and a coordinator, as well as a representative-coordinator from each participating country. Two of the project’s founders, Ana María Cetto and Octavio Alonso, currently serve, respectively, as the President and General Coordinator. www.cat-science.cat

Ana Maria Cetto delivering a speech at the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) in 2007. (Photo by J. Pareto, Archives IEC.)

Latindex has three databases: (i) Directory, containing bibliographic data and contact information on all registered journals, both in print form and electronic; (ii) Catalog, which is limited to those journals, printed or electronic, that meet the quality criteria established by Latindex; and (iii) Electronic Journals, a link that allows access to the full texts of electronic journals on their respective web sites. In the “Products” section, there is a detailed description of these resources and how to use them. 153

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment

Present organizational structure and future

of view of basic science, research means the contribution of the peculiarities of any given field to the general knowledge, while applied science improves the current conditions in many fields, including medicine and health, agriculture, environmental and food science, and bioremediation. Latindex contributes to this general, basic and applied knowledge by spreading the information on research performed on the geographic regions it deals with. It also provides information on the result of scientific exchanges with other countries. Much of this knowledge is generated by researchers from countries participating in joint projects or spending stays to do research in other countries. These are Latin Americans in Europe, Asia and North America-Canada, or citizens from those regions who work in research centers of Latin America, Caribbean, Spain and Portugal. The future of Latindex is closely linked to the future of the development and exchange of scientific knowledge.

Latindex operates on the basis of regional cooperation through an institution responsible for each participating country. The overall coordination of the system is managed by the Department of Latin American Literature, General Directorate of Libraries of the UNAM. Computer support, website development, and the entrance of data into the online system are handled by the UNAM’s Directorate General of Computer and Information Technology and Communication. New journals are included in Latindex by registration (free) through the coordinators of each country. The requirements include that the journal is periodically published and present contents of scientific and academic interest in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. Journals aimed at the dissemination of scientific research or scientific or cultural information are eligible, but not publications that represent the interests of specific companies or commercial entities, nor purely promotional products or services. Thus, the Latindex criteria provide a valuable guide to the field of scientific publishing and greatly facilitate the assessment of new products or the updating of existing ones [see Appendix]. The exhaustive criteria, some of which are of mandatory fulfillment and others desirable to achieve, have been designed to allow their gradual adaptation. This is advantageous in cases in which, for various reasons, the publication in question cannot implement these criteria immediately. This approach also supports quality-oriented goals for the product and encourages those underlying its publication. An important aspect of Latindex is the “Library for the publisher” section, which includes guides to scientific publications and to good practice for open access journals [7,8,11]. For those of us present at the birth of this project, we celebrate the fact that not only has it survived, it has also thrived, reaching the highest levels of dissemination and knowledge throughout the scientific world. Moreover, it has earned a respected place among other systems devoted to similar activities in other countries, including those with much greater resources for their expansion [2]. Latindex is a system of great utility that universally provides information about the scientific R&D carried out in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal [12] and the quality of the associated publications. Science and scientific publishing in addition to their contribution to progress, and especially with the advent of digital technology, allow direct communication between people, regardless of their physical distance. Scientific publication is the reflection of the research that is carried out in a country. It would not make sense speaking only in theory of the benefits of scientific research and what it means for the development of a country. From the point www.cat-science.cat

References 1.

Aguirre M, Cetto AM, Córdoba S, Flores AM, Román A (2006) Calidad editorial y visibilidad de las revistas. La experiencia de Latindex. In: Babini D, Fraga J (eds) Edición electrónica, bibliotecas virtuales y portales para las ciencias sociales en América Latina y el Caribe. CLACSO, Buenos Aires, pp. 103-122 2. Cronin B, Atkins HE (2000) The web of knowledge. Information today Inc. NJ, EE.UU, 565 pp 3. Cetto AM (1998) Ciencia y producción científica en América Latina. El proyecto Latindex. Int Microbiol 1:181-182 4. Cetto AM, Hillerud KI (eds) (1995) Publicaciones científicas en América Latina. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 305 pp 5. Cetto A, Alonso O (eds) (1999) Revistas científicas en América Latina, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 490 pp 6. Cetto AM, Alonso-Gamboa JO, Córdoba S (2010) Ibero-American systems for the dissemination of scholarly journals: a contribution to public knowledge worldwide. Journal URL: www.src-online.ca 7. Chica C. (2008) Microbiology in Latin America and the ALAM. Int Microbiol 11:221-225 8. Chica C, Skinner N (2010) Looking for a place in the sun: science and technology in Latin America. Int Microbiol 13:159-164 9. Finch J, et al. (2013) Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications. Executive Summary (Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings). Int Microbiol 16:125-132 10. Guerrero R, Chica C (1999) Revistas científicas latinoamericanas. A la búsqueda de un lugar en el sol. In Cetto A, Alonso O. (eds.) Revistas científicas en América Latina, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, pp 272-283 11. Guerrero R, Piqueras M (2004) Open access. A turning point in scientific publication. Int Microbiol 7:157-161 12. Sebastián J (2007) Claves del desarrollo científico y tecnológico de América Latina. Siglo XXI, Madrid, 484 pp

154

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

CHICA

APPENDIX. Latindex evaluation criteria Criteria fixed by Latindex for the evaluation of scientific journals published in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal. There are 33 criteria for printed journals and 36 for electronic journals. For a journal to be incorporated into the Latindex catalogue, it must fulfill all basic criteria and at least 75% of all criteria. Evaluation criteria are presented here in the original Spanish version and its translation into English. The translation into Catalan is included in the article by L. Rovira and L. Serrate-Casado, pp 141-150, this issue.

Spanish (original version) Criterios para revistas impresas

Criterios para revistas electrónicas

Características básicas (se tienen que cumplir todas) 1.

Mención del cuerpo editorial

Mención del cuerpo editorial.

Contenido. Al menos el 40% de los trabajos serán: a) artículos originales inéditos, b) informes técnicos, c) ponencias o comunicaciones a congresos, d) cartas al editor o artículos breves, e) artículos de revisión, f) reseñas de libros.

Antigüedad mínima 1 año.

Generación continua de contenidos.

Identificación de los autores con el nombre completo.

Lugar de edición.

Entidad editora.

Mención del director.

Mención del URL de la revista.

Mención de la dirección de la revista.

Mención de la dirección de la revista

Características de presentación de la revista 9.

Páginas de presentación. Deben incluir título completo, ISSN, volumen, número, fecha y membrete bibliográfico.

Navegación y funcionalidad. Se recomienda un máximo de tres clicks para acceder a cualquier contenido.

10.

Mención de periodicidad.

11.

Tabla de contenidos (índice).

Acceso a los contenidos. Facilidad de acceso al contenido.

12.

Membrete bibliográfico al inicio del artículo. Debe contener al menos título y numeración de la revista.

Acceso histórico al contenido. Por el tiempo de vida de la revista, o por un tiempo mínimo de tres años.

13.

Membrete bibliográfico en cada página.

14.

Miembros del consejo editorial.

Afiliación institucional de los miembros del consejo editorial.

16.

Afiliación de los autores.

17.

Indicación de las fechas de recepción y aceptación de originales.

Características de gestión y política editorial 18.

ISSN.

19.

Definición de la revista. Objetivo, cobertura temática y/o público al que va dirigida.

20.

Sistema de evaluación. Indicación del procedimiento para la selección de los artículos.

21.

Evaluadores externos.

22.

Autores externos. Al menos el 50% de los trabajos publicados serán de autores externos a la entidad editora.

23.

Apertura editorial. Al menos dos tercios del consejo editorial serán ajenos a la entidad editora.

24.

Servicios de información. Estar incluida en índices, directorios o bases de datos.

25.

Cumplimiento de la periodicidad.

www.cat-science.cat

155

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

Latindex: A tool to extend the dissemination of scientific publications and to improve their quality assessment

Características de los contenidos 26.

Contenido original. Al menos el 40% de los artículos deben ser trabajos de investigación originales.

27.

Instrucciones a los autores.

28.

Indicación de las normas para las referencias bibliográficas.

29.

Exigencia de originalidad. Debería indicarse en las instrucciones a los autores.

30.

Resumen.

31.

Resumen en dos idiomas.

32.

Palabras clave.

33.

Palabras clave en dos idiomas.

34.

–

Metaetiquetas. Conjunto de datos para la identificación y/o descripción de una fuente de información para su recuperación (muchos buscadores usan información almacenada en metaetiquetas para indexar páginas web).

35.

–

Buscadores. Inclusión de algún motor de búsqueda por palabras, índices, etc.

36.

–

Servicios de valor añadido. Alertas, enlaces hipertextuales, foros, guías de enlaces, etc.

Criteria for printed journals

Criteria for electronic journals

English

Basic features (all of them must be fulfilled) 1.

Indication of the editorial body.

Contents. At least 40% should include: (a) original unpublished articles; (b) technical reports, standards or specifications; (c) papers or contributions to conferences; (d) letters to the editor or similar articles; (f) review, state-of-the-art articles; (g) book reviews.

Minimum age 1 year.

Continuous content. Constant flow of articles throughout several months or one year. Authors identification with full name.

Authors identification with full name.

Place (city/town where the journal is published).

Publisher.

Indication of the editor-in-chief.

Indication of the journal’s website URL.

Indication of the journal address.

Indication of the journal’s postal address.

Presentation characteristics of the journal

Journal’s display features

Presentation pages. They must include at least the full title of the journal, ISSN, volume, number, date, and bibliographic heading.

Navigation and functionality. A maximum of three clicks by the user to access any content is recommended.

10.

Indication of frequency.

11.

Table of contents or index.

Access to the contents. Ease of access to the content: summaries, articles, previous issues and others.

12.

Bibliographic heading at the beginning of the article. It must contain at least: complete or abbreviated title, and volume, number or equivalent.

Access to historical content. Availability to journal back issues for at least three years (if the journal is more than three years old).

13.

Bibliographic heading on each page.

14.

Editorial board members.

www.cat-science.cat

156

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

CHICA

15.

Institutional aﬃliation of the editorial board members.

16.

Authors’ aﬃliation.

17.

Dates of entry and acceptance of originals.

Management and editorial policy features 18

ISSN.

Definition of the journal. Declaration of the objective, subjects covered, and/or the audiences the journal is aimed at.

Definition of the journal. Declaratrion of the objective, subjects covered, and/or the audiences the journal is aimed at.

Review system. Indication of the system to select articles for publication.

External evaluators.

External authors. At least 50 % of the works published must come from authors external to the editorial body.

External authors. At least 50% of the works published must come from authors external to the editorial body.

Editorial openness. At least two thirds of editorial board members must not belong to the journal’s publishing institution.

Information systems. Sources of information or resources where the journal is indexed.

Frequency compliance.

Contents features 26

Original content. At least 40 % of the contents must be original articles or contributions, research results, scientific communications or original creations.

Original content. At least 40 % of the contents must be originial articles or contributions, research results, scientific communications or original creations.

Instructions to authors. Information on the standards and rules used by the journal.

Bibliographic feature style.

Originality requirement.

Abstract.

Abstract in two languages.

Keywords.

Keywords in two languages.

–

Meta tags. Set of data for the identification and/or description of an information resource for its recovery (many search engines use information stored in meta tags to index web pages).

–

Search engines (having a search engine that allow readers to search journal’s web site is a plus).

–

Value-added services. Additional services oﬀered by the journal’s website.

Latindex is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial.

www.cat-science.cat

157

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 151-157

FORUM AND FOCUS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.175 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Ibérica magazine (1913–2004) and the Ebro Observatory Maria Genescà-Sitjes Ebro Observatory, Roquetes, Tarragona, Catalonia University Ramon Llull-Spanish National Research Council (URL-CSIC), Tarragona, Catalonia

Correspondence: Maria Genescà Observatori de l’Ebre Horta Alta, 38 43520 Roquetes, Catalonia Tel. +34 977 500 511 Fax +34 977 504 660 E-mail: mgenesca@obsebre.es

Summary. The popular science magazine Ibérica was founded at the Ebro Observatory 100 years ago. It was introduced and developed by Ricard Cirera i Salse, S.J., founder of the Ebro Observatory in Roquetes, at the Ebro Delta, southern Catalonia. From the start, Cirera advocated for the importance of spreading scientific and technological knowledge as well as the latest advances in these fields. The magazine Ibérica was the manifestation of his efforts. It contributed to the popularization of science throughout its history and thus to a better understanding of scientific progress over the course of the 20th century. The present work aims to shed light on the context and setting of the project—its historical background, the relationship of the Society of Jesus to science and to the Jesuit Col·legi Màxim in Tortosa—as well as the path covered by the magazine from its inception in 1913 until the end of the publication, in 2005. Keywords: Ibérica magazine · science and technology popularization · Ebro Observatory · Society

of Jesus Resum. Fa cent anys nasqué a l’Observatori de l’Ebre la revista de divulgació Ibérica, fruit de la idea i planificació de Ricard Cirera i Salse, S.J., fundador de l’Observatori de l’Ebre a Roquetes (Baix Ebre). Des del començament, Cirera va propugnar la importància de difondre el coneixements científic i tecnològic, i els avenços que s’hi anaven produint. La revista Ibérica va ser la manifestació del seu esforç i al llarg de la seva història va contribuir a la divulgació de la ciència i, per tant, a entendre millor el progrés científic al llarg del segle XX. Aquest treball pretén fer conèixer l’entorn que va envoltar aquest projecte —els antecedents històrics i la relació de la Companyia de Jesús amb la ciència i el Col·legi Màxim que s’establí a Tortosa— i el recorregut de la revista fins al seu acabament, l’any 2005. Paraules clau: revista Ibérica · divulgació científica i tecnològica · Observatori de l’Ebre · Companyia

de Jesús

BY THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, the Jesuits had incorporated the study of science into the curriculum of the faculty of Philosophy at the Col·legi Màxim dels Jesuïtes (Jesuit Higher College). This would lead to the inauguration of three scientific institutes in Roquetes, at the Ebro Delta (southern Catalonia): the Observatori de l’Ebre (Ebro Observatory), in 1904; the Laboratori Químic de l’Ebre (Chemical Laboratory of the Ebro), in 1905; and the Laboratori Biològic de l’Ebre (Biological Laboratory of the Ebro), in 1908 (Fig. 1). The three institutes were founded and run by outstanding Catalan Jesuit scientists, rewww.cat-science.cat

spectively, Ricard Cirera Salse (1864–1932), Eduard Vitoria (1864–1958), and Jaume Pujiula Dilmé (1869–1958). The three men had extensive scientific training obtained in different countries and were actively involved in research and in the diffusion of science. The Ebro Observatory, founded by Jesuit Father Cirera, was the first scientific institute to be inaugurated, in 1904 [8,9], and it continues to thrive in Roquetes. Together with research and geophysical communication, the outreach of science was among its initial objectives. To that end, Father Cirera founded the magazine Ibérica. The 159

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

Iberica magazine

Fig. 1. Premises of the Col·legi Màxim in Roquetes, with the Ebro Observatory in the background. (Source: Archive of the Ebro Observatory)

Col·legi Màxim dels Jesuïtes, the Biological Laboratory, and the Chemical Laboratory later moved to Sarrià, on the outskirts of Barcelona. The latter became the Instituto Químico de Sarriá (IQS School of Engineering).

were a core part of the curriculum in their colleges, where a significant number of observatories were established. Methodical work began in some of these with the study of the atmospheric sciences and meteorology [32]. Throughout the 19th century, the Jesuits founded more than 70 observatories worldwide. The most relevant ones were in Havana, Cuba (1859) and in Manila, Philippines (1865), two countries under Spanish rule at the time [33].

Historical and scientific background Jesuits and science. Beginning with its founding in the 16th

century, the Society of Jesus played a major role in the development of modern science, and a scientific tradition was established among its members [31]. The close bond between the Jesuits and science grew even stronger over time such that during the 18th century science was incorporated into the apostolic work devoted to philosophical training at their colleges and faculties. In the 19th century, however, bringing together religious beliefs and scientific ideas was undoubtedly a complex task. The Jesuits sought to reconcile the active role and involvement of the church in the field of science with the antireligious trend of scientism prevalent during those times. This situation facilitated the efforts of the Society of Jesus to allow its members to pursue studies in science. Hence, mathematics, astronomy, and the natural sciences www.cat-science.cat

Catalan Jesuit scientists from Tortosa and Roquetes.

The Society of Jesus in Spain was initially organized into one province. In 1863, this province was split into two: Castile and Aragon. The Jesuit province of Aragon comprised Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Aragon, and Valencia. It also included the South American territories of Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina, as well as Cuba and the Philippines. In the province of Aragon, the Society established the Col·legi Màxim in Tortosa, at the Ebro Delta [22]. The college included both a faculty of Theology, located in Raval de Jesús (Tortosa), and, some 2 km away and next to the Ebro Observatory, the faculty of Philosophy, in Roquetes. By the end of the 19th century, a significant group of Catalan Jesuit scientists 160

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

GENESCÀ

and telephony and participated in the development of a vaccine against cholera, the first artificial vaccine ever used in humans [2]. The Tortosa scientists also shared ideas and interacted with the Valencian physicist and politician Amalio Gimeno (1852–1936), who, like Landerer, strongly defended Ferran’s vaccine when it was rejected by some members of the scientific community [2]. Their relationship was important for science not only in Catalonia but also in Spain. The reward for the group’s actions in defense of science came when Gimeno, who had been appointed Minister of Public Instruction, created the Junta de Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE) (Board for the Extension of Studies and Scientific Research) [27,28]. The JAE was devoted to the creation of laboratories and research centers and to the granting of scholarships for the training of Spanish professors and researchers abroad. By the time the Royal Decree of 1907 was made public and the first scientific centers were established in Madrid, both the Observatory and the Chemical Laboratory were al-

had been trained in the Col·legi Màxim in Tortosa. However, many Jesuits left Spain for its overseas territories, in order to carry out missionary work. In 1874, Father Antoni Vicent Dolz (1837–1912) returned to Spain after having completed his biological studies in Belgium. He was sent to the Col·legi Màxim in Tortosa to study theology and subsequently to teach the holy scriptures. Although he was not well known as a scientist, he was a key element of the scientific community in the region. He was also a prominent biologist who had been a student of Ramon y Cajal in Valencia [29]. Above all, he was known for having established the Cercles Catòlics Obrers (Catholic Workers’ Circles) in Spain, inspired by his stay in Belgium. His continuous involvement in social activities for the Catholic Workers’ Circles left him little time for his scientific interests, but he left his mark on the Col·legi Màxim before moving to Valencia in 1885. During Vicent’s teaching years, and for some more years thereafter, the finest Jesuit scientists were being trained in the Col·legi Màxim. Many of these shared Vicent’s love for the Catalan language and culture as well as his approach to scientific research. The Jesuits at the Ebro Observatory published their scientific works in German, French, Spanish, and English, with the aim of reaching the international scientific community. In addition, thanks to their open attitude towards Catalanism, they contributed to the development of a Catalan scientific language [19]. An outstanding biologist and disciple of Antoni Vicent was the aforementioned Jaume Pujiula Dilmé (1869–1958), who went on to found the Biological Laboratory of the Ebro in 1908 [29]. At the same time, by the end of the 19th century there was a core group of scientists in Tortosa that revolved around a central figure, the prominent naturalist, astronomer, and geologist Josep Joaquim Landerer (1841–1922). He was a well-known scientist and popular science writer who contributed to a myriad of publications [11,12] (Fig. 2). Around 1880, Landerer collaborated with Father Vicent both in the Catholic Workers’ Circles and in organizing and giving scientific lectures in Tortosa [1]. He was also a staunch advocate of the Ebro Observatory and helped in its establishment, by providing both moral and financial support [8,21]. This core group of scientists in Tortosa became one of the most relevant in Spain at the time. Landerer himself was a great resource, making available to his disciples both his extensive library and his various research instruments. Moreover, he instilled in them a love for study and research at a time when science in Spain was in a disgraceful state. Two of his most outstanding disciples were Innocent Paulí (1854– 1921), who collaborated in the development of geophysical instruments for Landerer’s observations [26], and the physician Jaume Ferran i Clua (1851–1929) [2,17] who, together with Paulí [30], contributed to innovations in photography www.cat-science.cat

Fig. 2. Josep Joaquim Landerer, at he Ebro Observatory premises. (Source: Archive of the Ebro Observatory)

161

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

Iberica magazine

ready operating in Roquetes and the Biological Laboratory was about to be inaugurated [9]. In addition, many of the Catalan Jesuit scientists disseminated across the globe had been trained in the faculties of Tortosa and Roquetes. These were the Jesuits who had founded and led the above-mentioned Spanish observatories. Some of the renowned Jesuits who worked at these observatories were: at the Manila Observatory, Frederic Faura, from Artés (1840–1897), Josep Algué, from Manresa (1856–1930), and Miquel Selga from Rajadell (1879–1956); at the Bethelem College Observatory in Havana, Benet Viñes, from Poboleda (1837–1893), Miquel Saderra-Masó, from Olot (1865–1939), Francesc Butiña, from Banyoles (1834–1899), and Antoni Cabré, from Tarragona (1829–1883); and at the San Miguel Observatory (Argentina), Ignasi Puig, from Manresa (1887–1961) [32].

Kingdom. Their aim was to promote the research and findings of their associate members, including by publishing the results in journal form. While many such journals were short-lived, on 4 November 1869, the first issue of the weekly journal Nature was published. Its aim was to acquaint the general public with advances in science and to enable scientists to publish the results of their research [13]. Some years later, in 1880, the journalist John Michels founded Science in the United States, a scientific journal that was associated with the American Society for the Advancement of Science [14]. Meanwhile, royal academies were established in Spain. Their aims were in line with those elsewhere in Europe: to understand, discuss, and disseminate knowledge and culture [23]. The Spanish Royal Academy of the Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences was founded in Madrid in 1847. By the end of the 19th century, the principles proposed by the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Institute for Free Education), the ILE, were gaining increasing acceptance. The ILE sought greater intellectual development in Spain and the promotion and popularization of knowledge, with the aim of improving science in the country. Its efforts were realized in 1907, with the creation of both the above-mentioned JAE and, in Catalonia, the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies, the Catalan Academy of the Sciences and the Humanities) [24,25]. The urgent interest of these societies in science communication was too obvious to be ignored, and was met by the development of periodical publications.

Communication and scientific popularization. The efforts of these Jesuit scientists to pursue their studies and establish the importance of science in Catalonia and Spain can be seen in the context of the evolution of scientific communication in Europe, a process that began 300 years earlier [20]. Throughout the 17th century, and especially from the second half of the 18th century, learned scientific societies were emerging all across Europe, mostly in France and the United

Ibérica, a weekly popular science magazine Within this framework, the Ebro Observatory took on the responsibility of promoting science, a task that went hand in hand with its research in geophysics. This was accomplished through Ibérica, a magazine of high scientific rigor and the product of a team of exceptional contributors [10]. The main objective of the publication was as a format by which the Ebro Observatory could contribute to the popularization of scientific and technological knowledge while fostering scientific progress. The initial plan was ambitious: to gather and summarize knowledge of potential interest to the general public. A wide array of subjects was covered, with a proper balance between the relevance of each one and the amount of space devoted to its presentation. Also, because the articles were intended for a wide audience, they were authored by specialists in their respective fields. Another aim of the magazine was to fill the gap left by other Spanish publications, by catering to the large part of the population that was eager to learn about the latest scientific advances (Fig. 3). The framework and the context suited the magazine, which found its place within a consolidated core group of scientists. Apart from the Observatory, both the Chemical Laboratory and the Biological Laboratory were fully operational.

Fig. 3. Premier issue of Ibérica.

www.cat-science.cat

162

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

GENESCÀ

Fig. 4. First team of Jesuit scientists at the Ebro Observatory and Ibérica. (Source: Archive of the Ebro Observatory)

tific and technological advances. Special attention was paid to progress taking place in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries. Astronomy, meteorology, and geophysics had a central role in the publication, which included excellent illustrations. The magazine adopted theoretical, practical, and informative approaches to its content. By reading old issues, one can follow the development of science in physics, astronomy, photography, electricity, aviation, inventions, scientific expeditions, and military technology. In subsequent issues, Ibérica focused on specific topics. For example, on the occasion of Einstein’s visit to Barcelona in 1923, it chronicled all the related events, reported on their organizers, and summarized the lectures held during the famous physicist’s visit. In addition, it also referred readers to previous issues whose contents were related to relativity and gravitation. The magazine’s editors and science writers, as well as the rest of its staff, were Jesuits who resided at the Ebro Observatory, including those studying in Roquetes (Table 1) [8]. In addition, the magazine had first-rate contributors and specialists from different scientific fields. Some of them were members of the aforementioned institutions of the Society of Jesus, while others were renowned university professors and lecturers with whom the editor-in-chief had become acquainted during his many scientific travels. The members of the Society of Jesus who contributed articles to the first issues of Ibérica included Eduard Vitora, Jaume Pujiula, Constantino Bayle, José Agustin Pérez del Pulgar, Manuel M. NavarroNeumann, Enric de Rafael, Miquel Selga, Simón Sarasola, Longí Navás, Joaquím M. de Barnola, Julio de la Vaissière, Marc Deschevens, and Louis Boule. Among the most important non-Jesuits who wrote for Ibérica during its first year were Hermenegildo Gorria, from the Escola Provincial

The Jesuits in these institutes contributed to Ibérica, as did those from other colleges and Jesuit institutes from across the globe (Fig. 4).

Sections, content, and early authors When Ibérica was founded, its subtitle was El progreso de las ciencias y de sus aplicaciones (The progress of science and of its applications) (Fig. 5). By the end of 1913, two issues had been published: Spécimen A, in October, and Spécimen B, in November. Starting in 1914, a regular weekly issue was published. These weekly issues would be compiled into two yearly volumes, which included accurate subject and author indexes. At that time, both a deluxe and a regular edition of the magazine were published. The latter was intended for a wider audience and was delivered to readers who paid for a sixmonth subscription [5,6]. The printer was Imprenta Moderna de Algueró y Baiges, from Tortosa. From 1914 to 1925, the magazine’s sections remained almost invariable: “La crónica científica” (Scientific chronicle), which included news (inventions, new applications, phenomena of interest); “Boletín científico” (Scientific bulletin), devoted to the progress of theories; the body of the magazine, with a series of articles that described the progress of scientific theories; and “Sección bibliográfica” (Bibliographical section), which included reviews of new books for those who wished to broaden their knowledge on the topics covered. Each issue also included ephemerides, observation data, and advertisements. These advertisements were both a means of additional financing Ibérica and a source of information for its readers [5,6]. The contents covered the fields of exact sciences, physics, and the natural sciences, and discussed international scienwww.cat-science.cat

163

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

Iberica magazine

Fig. 5. Nameplates from the first period in the history of Ibérica. (A) Volume 1, January-June 1914. (B) Regular edition of the July 1936 issue.

d’Agricultura de Barcelona (School of Agriculture of Barcelona); Josep Joaquim Landerer, from the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences; Lluís Cirera, from the Royal Academy of Medicine of Barcelona; Eduard Alcobé, Rafael Campalans, Ramon Jardí, and Esteve Terrades, from the University of Barcelona; and Daniel Jiménez Cisneros and Josep Serrat Bonastre, from the Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima (one of the first companies to produce railway machinery and equipment in Spain). All of them wrote articles for a non-specialized audience, with the goal of contributing to the popularization of scientific and technological knowledge. In 1916, the Col·legi Màxim dels Jesuïtes, the Chemistry Laboratory and the Biological Laboratory were moved to Sarrià, a neighbordhood of the city of Barcelona, while the Obwww.cat-science.cat

servatory and the magazine remained in Roquetes. However, Ibérica was about to fall on hard times.

The editors of Ibérica The first editor-in-chief of the magazine was Ricard Cirera Salse, S.J., who held this position from 1913 to 1917. From 1888 to 1894, Cirera had stayed in the Manila Observatory, before coming back to Spain to finish his ecclesiastical studies. In 1899 he spent time in the main European cities in order to receive the training necessary to found the Ebro Observatory. He was both its founder and its first director as well as the first editor-in-chief of Ibérica. In 1917, Josep Albiñana, S.J. (1875–1922) replaced Cirera as the magazine’s editor-in164

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

GENESCÀ

Table 1. Relevant contributors to Ibérica during 1913–1925 Author

Position held in the Ebro Observatory and/or the magazine

Josep Albiñana

Seismology Department at the Ebro Observatory. Deputy director and director of Ibérica magazine. 1914–1922

Juan Forcadas

Photographer of the Ebro Observatory

Andrés Linari

Magnetics Department, library at the Ebro Observatory. 1916–1921

Joan Garcia Mollà

Member of the Geophysics, Seismology, and Magnetics Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1906–1921

Ginés Muñoz

Occasionally collaborated with Ibérica and with the Ebro Observatory

Juan Ortega

Magnetics Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1912–1915

Joaquim Pericas

Solar Energy and Seismology Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1910–1918, 1924

Enrique de Rafael

Collaborated regularly with Ibérica and with the Magnetics Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1921, 1939, 1944

Luís Rodés

Deputy director of the Ebro Observatory. Renowned astronomer. Contributed popular astronomy articles to the magazine. 1914–1939

Francisco Rubio

Solar Energy Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1916–1931

Josep Sagristà

Magnetics and Seismology Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1917

Pedro Trullás

Seismology Department at the Ebro Observatory. 1917–1926

Roquetes hindered its growth. Thus, Ibérica was moved to a more central location [16]. In 1925, Linari paid for new premises in the center of Barcelona, in the Carrer Palau. These new premises met the needs of the magazine; they included a press, binding machinery, and a large library similar to that of Landerer’s at the Ebro Observatory [3]. However, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, in July 1936, Ibérica ceased publication. After the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, a period of almost ten years, Father Ignasi Puig i Simon (1881– 1961) relaunched Ibérica, in 1945. This marked the start of the second period in the history of the magazine [6]. Puig i Simon had been vice-director of the Ebro Observatory until 1933, when he left for Argentina to found the Observatorio de Física Cósmica de San Miguel (San Miguel Geophysical Observatory), on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Returning to Barcelona in 1944, he reorganized and was in charge of Ibérica. He recovered its old premises and set up its first phone line. The magazine was published every two weeks, and in a smaller format. Puig i Simon was an active popular science writer, and he favored this format for the magazine. Other highly respected scientists continued their collaborations with Ibérica, such as Miquel Crusafont, Ignasi Sala de Castellarnau, and Ramon Margalef, the renowned ecologist who collaborated with Ibérica for over ten years. The third period in the magazine’s history started in 1962, under the direction of Father Pascual Bolufer, S.J., director until then of the Timetable and Atmospheric Service and deputy director of Geomagnetism and Telluric Currents at

chief. Albiñana attended the First International Congress of the Catalan Language, held in Barcelona in 1906, where he met Bishop Torras i Bages (1846–1916), a representative of Catholic Catalan nationalism, and Antoni Maria Alcover (1862–1932), a priest from Majorca and coauthor of a descriptive, etymological dictionary aimed at gathering all the elements of the Catalan lexicon. Albiñana was professor of physics, chemistry, and mathematics and had studied theology in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1914, the same year that Ibérica was founded, he was appointed head of seismology at the Ebro Observatory and thus began to collaborate with the newly founded magazine. In 1916, he was appointed head of the editorial office, and the following year he became Ibérica’s editor-in-chief [15]. After Albiñana’s death, in 1922, the Argentinian Jesuit Andrés F. Linari (1881–1969) took over. He had previously been a researcher in the Electricity and Meteorology departments at the Ebro Observatory (1916–1917) and was in charge of its library. Linari also contributed to Ibérica, becoming associate editor in 1918 and editor-in-chief in 1923. It was Linari who was responsible for moving Ibérica to Barcelona in 1925. Ibérica was founded at the Ebro Observatory. The reputation gained by that center in a few years, together with the high quality of the magazine’s articles, contributed to increasing Ibérica’s circulation throughout Spain and Latin America. But it soon became clear that the magazine and the Ebro Observatory carried out different activities, and should therefore be separated. Moreover, the magazine’s isolated location in www.cat-science.cat

165

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

Iberica magazine

the Ebro Observatory [4]. In 1971, the editorial office of Ibérica moved close to the Pedralbes campus of the University of Barcelona, in the street presently named Aristides Mayol (then, División Azul). Under Bolufer, Ibérica became a monthly publication, and its subtitle was changed to Actualidad científica (Latest scientific developments). The magazine covered the great technological and scientific changes that took place during the second half of the 20th century. In the last four decades of the magazine, Bolufer maintained updated his devote readers (reading Ibérica in that time was common among many scien-

tists and academics) in the latest news of science and technology in the world. Besides, Bolufer knew how to attract the collaboration with Ibérica of other scientists writing from abroad, including Antonio Lazcano, from Mexico, and Lynn Margulis and Ricard Guerrero, from the USA. (Guerrero had also contributed with papers before, at the end of the 1960’s, when he was still working on his doctoral thesis, in Barcelona.) The new format and scope brilliantly maintained the life of the magazine for another 42 years. Ibérica stopped publication in 2005, with issue 478, ninety-two years after its founding.

Fig. 6. Cover pages from diﬀerent periods of Ibérica. (A) Volume 1, 1914. (B) Issue from the first period, February 1931, regular edition with advertisements. (C,D) Issues from the second and third periods, June 1951 (C), and December 1974 (D).

www.cat-science.cat

166

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

GENESCÀ

Fig. 7. Landerer Pavilion and library at the Ebro Observatory. (Source: Archive of the Ebro Observatory).

Fig. 8. Ibérica’s library and lecture room at carrer Palau, in Barcelona. (Source: Archive of the Ebro Observatory).

The library of Ibérica

of the Virreina, POUM established a cultural center, a political documentation center, and its own Marxist publishing house, directed by Juan Andrade. The palace may also have included a large public library housing Marxist texts published by POUM as well as many works confiscated from convents and other buildings. Therefore, during this time, part of Ibérica’s collection might have been deposited in this library, but it would later be returned to the library on the Carrer Pa-

The Society of Jesus has always had important libraries and archives, such as the collection of documents in the Col·legi Màxim in Tortosa. From the very beginning, it was obvious that the Ebro Observatory likewise needed a respectable library. During his preparatory travels throughout Europe, Father Cirera contacted several institutions, which agreed to send their publications to the Ebro Observatory. In 1905, the Ebro Observatory began publishing monographs, and in 1910, with the Butlletí d’Observacions (Bulletin of Observations), it started a regular exchange of publications with the libraries of hundreds of institutions throughout the world. Also, at the time when Ibérica was first published, the library began to receive many books to be reviewed in the magazine. Thus, the Ibérica library was created within the research library at the Ebro Observatory. These two libraries were eventually separated when Ibérica moved to Barcelona (Figs. 7 and 8). The details of the misfortunes suffered by the Ibérica library during the prewar period and during the war remain unknown, but it seems that in 1932, when the government of the Spanish Second Republic suppressed the Society of Jesus, Linari managed to keep his position with Ibérica and to look after the library on Carrer Palau [18]. However, upon subsequent examination of the collection, some of its books were found to include not only the stamp of the library but also that of the Institut Maurín (Fig. 9). This institute, according to the Bulletin of the Andreu Nin Foundation, was located in the Palace of the Virreina, built in the late 18th century in La Rambla, in Barcelona [7]. In 1936, the palace was confiscated by the Iberian Communist Youth, the youth wing of the Worker’s Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). In the Palace www.cat-science.cat

Fig. 9. Cover of a book from the library housing Ibérica, with its bookplates and stamps.

167

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

Iberica magazine

lau. Today, on the centenary of Ibérica’s founding, a large part of the library’s collection that had been in Barcelona and was later kept at the library of the Centre Borja, belonging to the Jesuits and located in Sant Cugat, near Barcelona, has been returned to Roquetes.

11. Genescà-Sitjes M (2012) Landerer’s legacy at the Ebro Observatory (2nd ed). Publicaciones Observatorio del Ebro, Roquetes. (In Spanish) 12. Gozalo Gutiérrez R, Navarro-Brotons V (1995) Josep Joaquim Lánderer i Climent. Research out of the academy: astronomy and geology. In: Camarasa JM, Roca-Rosell A (eds) Science and technique in the territories of Catalan language: A biographical approach to the last 150 years, vol. 1. Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca, Barcelona, pp 457-492 (In Catalan) 13. Houghton B (1975) The beginnings of the scientific journal. In: Houghton B. Scientific periodicals: Their historical development, characteristics and control. Clive Bingley, London, UK, pp 11-19 14. Houghton B (1975) The development and specialisation of the scientific journal. In: Houghton B. Scientific periodicals: Their historical development, characteristics and control. Clive Bingley, London, UK, pp 20-31 15. Ibérica (1922) R. P. José Albiñana: Director of the Ibérica magazine. Ibérica 18:323-424. (In Spanish) 16. Ibérica (1925) Our moving to Barcelona. Ibérica 24:114. (In Spanish) 17. Landerer JJ (1885) Doctor D. Jaime Ferran. Ilustración Esp Amer 29:322323 (In Spanish) 18. Linari AF (1932) Transcendental documents in the life of the magazine Iberica: Instances submitted to the chairman of the board appointed by decree on January 23, 1932. Ibérica 37:130-132. (In Spanish) 19. March Noguera J (2000) Contributions of the Jesuits from the Ebro Observatory to modern Catalan scientific language. In: Batlló Ortiz J, de la Fuente Collell P, Puig Aguilar R (eds) V Trobades d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica. Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica, Barcelona, pp 425-431 20. Mckie D (1979) The scientific periodical from 1665 to 1798. In: Meadows AJ (ed) The scientific journal. Aslib Readers, Bingley, pp 7-17 21. Puig I (1927) The Ebro Observatory: General idea about it. Imprenta Moderna del Ebro de Algueró y Baiges, Tortosa. (In Spanish) 22. Raggi-Cantero S (1913) The Society of Jesus and its students one century after its restoration. Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, pp 70-73. (In Spanish) 23. Reol-Tejada JM (1999) The Spanish Institute and Royal Academies. Arbor 163:1-18. (In Spanish) 24. Roca-Rosell A (1999) The learned societies of the IEC: Associationism and scientific research. Arbor 163:61-75. (In Spanish) 25. Roca-Rosell A, Camarasa JM (2011) The foundation of the Sciences Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies (1911) and its early years. Contrib Sci 7:195-203 26. Romañá A (1957) Telluric currents in Tortosa at the end of the last century. Publicaciones Observatorio del Ebro, Roquetes, pp 51-63. (In Spanish) 27. Sánchez-Ron JM (2003) Contemporary history: the 19th century. In: Ordoñez J, Navarro V, Sánchez-Ron M (eds) Historia de la ciencia. EspasaCalpe, Madrid, pp 425-514. (In Spanish) 28. Sánchez-Ron JM (2007)The Board for the Extension of Studies and Scientific Research one hundred years later. In: Puig-Samper M (ed). Tiempos de investigación JAE-CSIC, cien años de ciencia en España. CSIC, Madrid, pp 29-37.(In Spanish) 29. Teixidó-Gómez F (2011) Jesuit Jaime Pujiula Dilmé, key scientist in biology research in Barcelona. Llull 34:203-228. (In Spanish) 30. Tió Sauleda S (2007) Ferran and Paulí: The immediacy in photography. Quaderns Hist Enginyeria 8:51-269. (In Spanish) 31. Udías A (2000) Contribution of the Jesuits to science throughout the 16th to the 18th centuries. Arbor 657:207-228. (In Spanish) 32. Udías A (2000) Observatories of the Society of Jesus 1814-1998. Arch Hist Soc Iesu 69:152-179 33. Udías A (2003) Searching the heavens and the Earth: The history of Jesuit observatories. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, the Netherlands

Final remarks In 2013, on the occasion of the centenary of Ibérica magazine, we pay homage to the work carried out by this group of enthusiastic Catalan Jesuit scientists. Their efforts have provided a relevant contribution to our scientific, technological, and bibliographical heritage.

Note A partial collection of Ibérica, comprising volumes 1–14 (1914-1920) has been digitized, and can be accessed online as part of the ARCA project of the Digital Memory of Catalonia [http://mdc2.cbuc.cat/cdm/search/collection/iberica]. Complete printed collections of Ibérica can be found in different libraries, among them the own library of the Ebro Observatory (Roquetes) and the Institute for Catalan Studies (Barcelona).

References 1. 2.

Anonymous (1880) News. La verdad (Tortosa) 7 (10 octubre) Báguena Cervellera MJ (1995) Jaume Ferran i Clua. The first bacterial vaccine. In: Camarasa JM, Roca-Rosell A (eds) Science and technique in the territories of Catalan language: A biographical approach to the last 150 years, vol. 1. Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca, Barcelona, pp 651-679. (In Catalan) 3. Bolufer P (1995) A 75-year-old history. Ibérica 376:337-348. (In Spanish) 4. Bolufer P (2011) Science and technology in the 20th century as seen through the journal Ibérica (1914–2003). Contrib Sci 7:185-190 5. Cirera R (1913) Science accessible to everybody (I). Iberica Spécimen A:15. (In Spanish) 6. Cirera R (1913) Science accessible to everybody (II). Iberica Spécimen B:18-19. (In Spanish) 7. Erdoziain P (2008) Meeting on the 7th anniversary of the POUM (Worker’s Party of Marxist Unification) trial, Barcelona. [http://www.fundanin. org/pelloerdoziain16.htm] (In Spanish) 8. García-Doncel M, Roca-Rosell A (2007) The Ebro Observatory. One century of history (1904-2004). Memoria n. 18. Publicaciones Observatorio del Ebro, Roquetes, 310 pp. (In Spanish) 9. Genescà-Sitjes M (2007) Science communication to the society at the Ebro Observatory: a historical model. IV Spanish Conference of Science Communication to the Society, Madrid, November 23, 2007. CSIC and FECYT [http://www.csciencia2007.csic.es/actas/po_b1_12.pdf]. (In Spanish) 10. Genescà-Sitjes M (2008) Iberica: First Spanish popular science and technology magazine published at the Ebro Observatory. Actes Hist Ciència Tècnica (Nova època) 1:377-386. (In Catalan)

www.cat-science.cat

168

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 159-168

FORUM AND FOCUS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.176 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Ciència magazine, first period (1926–1933): A project for the recovery and dissemination of the Catalan scientific heritage Àngela García-Lladó,1 Òscar Montero-Pich,1 Alfons Zarzoso,1,2 Àlvar Martínez-Vidal3 Center for the History of Science (CEHIC), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona. 2Catalan Museum of the History of Medicine (MHMC). 3López Piñero Institute for the History of Medicine and Science, CSIC-University of Valencia, Valencia.

Correspondence: A. Zarzoso Museu d’Història de la Medicina de Catalunya Passeig del Comte d’Egara, 22, 1-2 08221 Terrassa, Catalonia Tel. 937845380 Fax: 937845380 E-mail: azarzoso@museudelamedicina.cat

Summary. In 1926, a new publishing project was realized: the magazine Ciència. Its

nameplate included, in a programmatic declaration, the following subtitle: Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia (Catalan Magazine of Science and Technology). The magazine became emblematic of a project of Catalanism that aimed at meeting the need of communicating science and technology to a growing interested public and of establishing a scientific and technical terminology in Catalan. In the current technological context and in the framework of different initiatives for the digitization, preservation, and dissemination of Catalan scientific heritage, the Institute for Catalan Studies has supported a distinctive initiative to archive the scientific, technological, and medical periodicals produced in Catalonia during the first third of the 20th century. This article introduces Ciència and the projects implemented to preserve and communicate Catalonia’s scientific heritage, placing both in their historical context. Keywords. science-medical-technology journalism · Catalanism · popular science · professional identity · science audiences · Catalan scientific-medical-technological lexicon Resum. L’any 1926 es va dur a terme un nou projecte editorial: la revista Ciència. La nova capçalera portava com a subtítol, en una declaració programàtica: Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia. La revista va esdevenir emblemàtica d’un projecte de catalanisme que cercava tant la necessitat de comunicar la ciència i la tecnologia a un públic cada cop més in teressat, com també la necessitat de fixar un lèxic científic i tècnic en català. En el context tecnològic actual i en el marc de diferents iniciatives de digitalització, conservació i difusió del patrimoni científic, l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans dóna suport a una acció singular de recuperació del patrimoni hemerogràfic científic, tècnic i mèdic produït a la Catalunya durant el primer terç del segle XX. Aquest article presenta i situa en context històric tant la revista Ciència com els projectes de conservació i comunicació d’aquest patrimoni. Paraules clau. periodisme científic-mèdic-tècnic · catalanisme · divulgació científica · identitat professional · públics de la ciència · lèxic científic-mèdic-tècnic català

Science publishing

cals in the Western world has followed that of science itself [18].The roots of science publication are to be found in 17th century Europe, in the publications of the first royal academies and learned societies. The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and the Journal des Sçavants are

Contemporary science has developed exponentially, and its progress has been communicated predominantly in periodical publications. In fact, the growth in the volume of periodiwww.cat-science.cat

169

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

Ciència magazine: first period

considered to be the first scientific periodicals; both were first published in 1665 [21]. The French were the first to publish a medical journal, the Nouvelles découvertes sur toutes les parties de la médecine. Edited by Nicolàs de Blegny in Paris between 1679 and 1681, it was the first to employ a vernacular language. But it is Thomas Wakley’s The Lancet, founded in 1823, that is considered to be the starting point of medical journalism. Fifty-five years later, in 1869, the amateur astronomer Norman Lockyer founded the journal Nature, which, like The Lancet, is still published. Thus, at the birth of science periodicals, institutional, scholarly publications were already distinct from commercial, business, and popular publications [5].With growing industrialization and the emergence of new urban social classes, during the second half of the 19th century, science publication spread, not only in the academic sphere but also as a means to disseminate science to lay audiences. The context was favorable, since progress in science and technology was considered to reflect economic growth and social promotion. Indeed scientific and technological advances were matters of interest to European society and they were regularly reported by newspapers, many of which had by then established scientific and technological sections.

tors were also publishers and the publication was a means to propagandize. The importance of the potential audience of these media is attested to by the significant presence of periodicals that recorded the struggles to delimit the powers of a growing medical market, particularly in attempts to rein in practices offering an alternative to those of regular medicine. The turn of the 19th century was a politically convulsive period marked by urban transformations and social changes. The publications of this period gave voice to the problems arising from the living conditions of the urban working class. At the same time, the complexity of medical knowledge, the increasing technical sophistication, and the social division of medical work promoted the development of medical specialties whose presence was increasingly represented by specific publications [24]. The development of the scientific and technological press in Catalonia took place throughout the 19th century, but it was mainly the last third of that century that gave rise to a clear publishing and communicating process [8]. New publications emerged that reflected the range of scientific audiences: illustrated magazines devoted to showing the transforming power of technology in the fields of electricity or engineering; specialized journals aimed at expert audiences; popular science magazines that included news, experiments, and practices and that were filled with models, illustrations, and photographs; and institutional publications, such as the Arxius de l’Institut de Ciències (Archives of the Institute of Sciences), published beginning in 1912 by a society affiliated with the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), or the magazine Iberica. El progreso de las ciencias y de sus aplicaciones (Iberica. The Progress of Science and of its Applications), published in Spanish by the Jesuits in Tortosa from 1913 to 1924 and then in Barcelona [see the article by M. Genescà in pp. 157-166 of this issue]. The latter was clearly popular in its nature, since although published by scientists, the magazine was aimed at a general audience eager to be instructed and informed on advancements in science and technology [12]. Advertising played a relevant role in scientific, technological, and medical periodicals during the first third of the 20th century. It was not solely a means of financing the publications, along with subscription fees [25]; rather, it became an additional means of scientific communication, by showcasing the latest innovations. It also had an innovative use of language, which along with visual and textual codes, employed different strategies to persuade readers of the value and novelty of the products offered [10,23].

Science journals and magazines in Catalonia The medical periodical press in Catalonia developed in the late 18th century, during the emergence of new ways of understanding medicine and disease. By the mid-20th century, over 270 journals were being published in Catalonia, mostly in Barcelona, which housed the offices of 250 journals and other publications. Publication of the remaining 20 was scattered among (in decreasing order) Reus, Lleida, Tarragona, Girona, Mataró, Blanes, and Vilanova i la Geltrú. Evidence of the thriving publishing industry in Barcelona and the importance of the city as a center of production, transmission, and dissemination of medical news and research can be gained from the fact that around 150 new medical periodicals were published there between the 1890s and 1938. Despite the setback posed by the Civil War, which resulted in the disappearance of most scientific journals, Barcelona remained a leading publishing center in Spain, with around 100 periodical publications from 1940 to the end of the 20th century. This was a time of profound change in the medical sciences and in the ways of communicating and accessing medical information. The features of Catalan medical publications were characteristic of the medical periodicals of the respective period. There were journals and other publications that served as the voice of medical or pharmaceutical corporations, of health professionals, and even of religious ideologists. In addition, in the transition to the professionalization of medical journalism, “author journals” predominated, in which ediwww.cat-science.cat

Scientific Catalanism: language and periodical publications The history of Catalan medical publication includes a clearly defined 40-year period during which medical Catalanism 170

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

GARCÍA-LLADÓ, ET AL.

(Catalan Medicine. Guide to Medical Occitania) (1933– 1938), a journal run by Leandre Cervera. It became a forum for the dissemination of Catalan research in the basic sciences and in medical and surgical specialties, both in Occitania (understood as a cultural, linguistic unit comprising the territories that, in the Middle Ages, spoke the several dialects of the langue d’Oc, including Northern Catalonia—now belonging to France—Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands) and throughout the world [15] [Perona Carrión, J. La consolidació de les especialitats mèdiques a Catalunya a través de la revista La Medicina Catalana. Portantveu de l’Occitània Mèdica (1933-1938). UAB, Master Dissertation, Barcelona, 2011]. Several of the medical societies that stemmed from the consolidation of certain specialties, i.e., pediatrics (1924–1938), radiology (1934–1936), surgery (1933–1935), and psychiatry (1936–1937)—and from the acceptance of Catalanism by their members, chose to publish their journals in Catalan. The Association of Industrial Engineers of Barcelona also adopted Catalan as its official language in 1931, from which time on it published its institutional journal Tècnica. Revista Tecnològico-Industrial (Technique. A Technology and Industry Journal) (1918–1936) in Catalan. This initiative was continued by industrial engineers in their journal Indústria Catalana (Catalan Industry) (1933–1935) [6,22]. It was against this background that the journal Ciència. Revista Catalana de Ciència i Tecnologia (Science. Catalan Magazine of Science and Technology) (1926–1933) was launched. It was written entirely in Catalan and among its aims was the establishment of a Catalan technical terminology.

tried to provide structure to the country’s medical profession. The first medical journal in Catalan, La gynecologia catalana (Catalan Gynaecology), was published in 1898 but 1938 marked the end for an extensive group of medical periodicals written in Catalan—their existence cut short by the Spanish Civil War. During the early 20th century, medical publishing had been both intellectually and professionally productive. Its success was tied to that of a scientific revitalization program and the building of a Catalan nation and it was led by Catalan physicians through an institutional support of medicine. Indeed, in 1931 there were 14 medical publications in Catalan [26]. The history of medical Catalanism is linked to the Academy of Medical Sciences and Laboratory of Catalonia (currently the Academy of Medical and Health Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands), an institution that resulted from the merging of two previous entities: The Laboratory, founded in 1872 by a small group of students from the Faculty of Medicine of Barcelona, and the Academy of Medical Sciences, found by a group of physicians in 1877. The proceedings of the institution were published throughout the final decades of the 19th century and then in the journal Anals de Medicina (Annals of Medicine) (1907–1936). This monthly publication became both a means of disseminating news of institutional activities and the voice of the scientific rejuvenation and social intervention programs of medical Catalanism [16]. Other actions related to the linguistic activism of the Science Section of the IEC (1912) and the Congressos de Metges de Llengua Catalana (Congresses of Physicians of Catalan Language, since 1934 known as the Congresses of Physicians and Biologists of Catalan Language) started in 1913. They were driving forces in the creation of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya (the Commonwealth of Catalonia), whose purpose was to promote the emergence of an extensive group of scientific, technological, and medical journals and book collections in Catalan [19]. The creation of the Union of Physicians of Catalonia (1920) consolidated this professional organization, while the pages of the Butlletí del Sindicat de Metges de Catalunya (Bulletin of the Union of Physicians of Catalonia) (1920– 1937) raised awareness of the great problems associated with the practice of medicine in cities and in rural areas [14]. Medical specialization benefited from the initiative promoted by the physician and politician Jaime Aiguader (the mayor of Barcelona from 1931 to 1933 and a minister in the Spanish Government during the Spanish Civil War), to publish the Monografies Mèdiques (Medical Monographs) (1926–1936). This collection, which was a great publishing success, became a forum for Catalan physicians to share their expertise with their Catalan-speaking colleagues [17]. The scientific level reached in the field of medicine in Catalonia during the first third of the 20th century was exemplified by La medicina catalana. Portantveu de l’Occitània Mèdica www.cat-science.cat

Ciència, the magazine In February 1926, during Primo de Rivera’s military dictatorship, the first issue of Ciència. Revista Catalana de Ciència i Tecnologia was released. Shortly after, the monthly magazine became a key cultural tool of the Catalanist movement in general, and of scientific Catalanism in particular [García-Lladó, A. La revista Ciència (1926–1933): Una eina al servei del catalanisme. UAB, Master Dissertation, Barcelona, 2011]. The chemist Ramon Peypoch Pich was the founder of Ciència and its editor-in-chief from the first issue until the magazine abruptly stopped being published, during the winter of 1933. Peypoch was born in Barcelona in 1898 and was a prolific figure in the fields of politics, science, and periodical publications. His Catalanist political ideals forced his exile first to France (1939) and later to Mexico (1942). This, however, did not prevent him from keeping up his intensive cultural activities. During the years of Ciència’s publication, Peypoch led and coordinated a network of institutions that, along with the magazine, strove to raise the level of Catalan science to that of the first-rank scientific production centers of the time [11,1]. 171

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

Ciència magazine: first period

ographies (1) of the Board Members were in many respect similar to that of Ramon Peypoch. These men were renowned scholars in their respective scientific disciplines and they held positions of responsibility in the different specialized institutions set up in Catalonia throughout the 20th century. In most cases, they combined their academic and institutional activities with an active political commitment in the Catalanist environment. With this strongly Catalanist Editorial Board, Ciència emerged in 1926 with clear purposes. It sought to become a modern publication with a professional scientific level, a point of reference for the science and technology research carried out in Catalonia. The main goal of Ciència was made explicit in its first editorial: to increase the number of science and technology publications written in Catalan. This editorial also noted the contributions of the IEC and clearly stated the publication’s most ambitious goal: to replace the Catalan Society for Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Science while this group remained inactive due to its repression under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. Thus, the goals of the magazine went beyond the transmission of knowledge to encompass providing support for the creation and emergence of new scientific and medical disciplines in Catalonia, with the larger goal being to build an independent Catalan scientific culture—one closely linked to the European scientific and technological movements of the time. As a matter of fact, it was during those years that, in Catalonia, the boundaries between different disciplines and specialties were defined, including in Ciència. These programmatic goals were not only embodied in the magazine’s ideology, but were also accomplished in practice. Issue 43 announced a series of lectures organized by the Chemical Society of Catalonia. Indeed, The Chemical Society of Catalonia expanded its presence by including the texts of its meeting lectures in the pages of Ciència, Revista Catalana de Ciència i Tecnologia, which became the platform for publicizing its activities [7]. It was this printed material that certified the society’s tasks. These concrete and durable efforts have greatly satisfied the Society. The publishing aims of Ciència were in accord with the construction of a Catalan national identity as carried out by professionals in the fields of science, technology, and medicine during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ciència played a key role in providing Catalan science and industry with an institutional structure, as well as its scientists and industrialists with the necessary tools to increase their knowledge to the level of that of members of prestigious centers elsewhere in the world. Ciència was the first popular science magazine written entirely in Catalan; before its release, all scientific publications were either bilingual or in Spanish. The examples include Crònica Científica (Scientific Chronicle), founded in 1878 and published entirely in Spanish, and journals such as Técnica

Fig. 1. Ciència, July-August, 1930; cover and index

The team behind Peypoch was composed of the scientific and technological community belonging to the intellectual Catalanist and conservative sectors and linked to political parties such as the Lliga Regionalista (Regionalist League) and Acció Catalana (Catalan Action). It was not until issue 37, published in July 1930, that the creation of the magazine’s first Editorial Board was announced (Fig. 1). Its members were Catalan scientists and industrialists in charge of Ciència’s management and editorial line: Leandre Cervera, Josep Grau, Ramon Peypoch, Enric Rebés, Santiago Rubió, and Josep de Calassanç Serra. Two years later, in July 1932, this Editorial Board was modified, as Ciència became the official bulletin of both the Catalan Society for Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences and the Association of Directors of Electrical and Mechanical Industries of the Institute of Applied Electricity and Mechanics (IEMA) [20]. Five more Board members were added: Rafael Candel, Antoni Cumella, Francest Ribera, Enric Soler, and Joan Visa. Of these new members, Rafael Candel was the only one to contribute four articles to the magazine. It can thus be surmised that the other new Board members served mostly as representatives of the two above-mentioned entities, in order to exert control over the magazine and its contents. Nonetheless, some of the biwww.cat-science.cat

172

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

GARCÍA-LLADÓ, ET AL.

and the advertisements printed on the back cover (Fig. 2). Advertisers were companies related to the world of industry and science, while subscribers were mainly industrialists and scientists. The exact income of Ciència is unknown, but from an editorial published in 1931 it is clear that the money raised from publicity and subscriptions was insufficient to cover expenses. The most visible consequence of this economic struggle was the lack of regularity in the periodicity of the publication. The founders wanted a monthly magazine, but this was only possible during the first year. In its editorials, the Editorial Board was overly optimistic in predicting subscriber rates, which, instead, did not “reach the levels that were to be expected.” The same applied to the number of advertisers. Another reason for the struggles of the magazine was “the lack of connection—maybe due to an exaggerated optimism in the design of our journal—between the subscription cost and its real cost” [4]. Ninetynine authors published their articles in the 53 issues of Ciència, and 64 of those authors contributed only one article. A significant proportion of authors were foreigners. All but one of these foreign authors came from the universities and research centers of Paris and Munich. Since many readers and subscribers were also potential authors of Ciència’s articles, we can infer that the magazine’s audience was an active agent in its existence and had the capacity to modify its content and publishing context.

(Technique) (1878–1936), Butlletí de l’Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona (Bulletin of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Barcelona) (1892–1936), and El Eco de la Industria (The Echo of Industry) (1898–1917) [8]. The editorial line of Ciència explicitly sought to update the knowledge of the Catalan scientific community and technological elite, to professionally unite these two communities, and to increase their prestige. In spite of the continuous evolution of its sections and structure, the magazine continued to apply rigorous standards to its articles and insisted on the use of a highly technical language, which largely restricted its distribution to an expert audience. Ciència was funded mainly by private patrons, as was the case for many other cultural projects of the Catalan bourgeoisie of the time. Like these other projects, it suffered problems related to irregular and often meager financing. This situation is corroborated by an editorial that appeared a year after the publication of the first issue, in March 1927. It stated that publication of the journal “takes place almost entirely motivated by the stimulus of ideological imperatives” [2]. A similar editorial was published in July and August, 1930. Without explicitly asking for funds, that editorial made clear that the magazine needed financial help, and it appealed to the conscience and sense of responsibility of subscribers while continuing to be enthusiastic and optimistic about the magazine’s goals and scope [3]. Other funding sources for the publication included subscriptions

Fig. 2. Advertisements published in the Catalan magazine Ciència, vol 5, No. 37, 1930-1931. (A and C) In1930. (B) In 1931.

www.cat-science.cat

173

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

Ciència magazine: first period

Fig. 3. A photograph of the Rockefeller Institute, New York, USA, in 1928, included in an article on cancer by Francesc Duran Reynals published in the Catalan journal Ciència (No. 22, August 1928).

The structure of Ciència greatly varied throughout the years of its publication. These modifications were not accidental; rather, they responded to the new functions assigned to the magazine over the course of its history. In the July 1930 issue, the changes that had been made and were still to be made were announced. These had to do with the structure of the magazine and the management of its publication. The changes affected all its sections and were aimed at systematizing the content and at facilitating access to the development of the different scientific and technological disciplines in Catalonia. The second great change took place when the IEC was able to resume its activity, under the Republican government. There was no longer a need for Ciència to carry out its activities, but it was still important that it served as a communication platform for those societies affiliated with the IEC and for other professional associations that resumed offering lectures, meetings, or gatherings of specialists in particular topics. In fact, this new function was announced in July 1932 by means of a new subtitle on the magazine’s nameplate, which announced that the magazine had become the Butlletí de la Societat Catalana de Ciències Físiques, Químiques i Matemàtiques (Bulletin of the Catalan Society for Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics). This society was a member of the International Scientific Press Federation, and it was the official organ of the Electrical and Mechanical Industries Association of the IEMA. From then on, Ciència was fully and explicitly adapted to this new function, with subsequent changes in its structure. In February 1933, the last issue of Ciència was published. There were no hints that this issue would be the last one and the causes of the magazine’s disappearance remain unknown. Joan March Noguera has pointed out that a likely www.cat-science.cat

reason for the discontinuation of Ciència was that the new political responsibilities of its leader and driving force, Ramon Peypoch, prevented him from continuing his publishing activities [13]. In 1980, however, Ciència started a new chapter in the (re)construction of a Catalan-speaking scientific community [9; see article by M. Vallmitjana, pp. 175180 this issue].

The IEC’s heritage recovery and digitization project The recovery and digitization of Ciència is part of a project funded by the IEC: “Scientific Periodicals: Finding, Digitizing, and Disseminating Science, Technology, and Medicine Periodicals Published in Catalan (1898–1938)” (2). Its aim is to find the original issues of scientific periodicals from the first decades of the 20th century, reproduce them electronically, and disseminate them through Internet in order to link, at least virtually, the pre-Civil War bibliographic heritage with that of the last decades of the 20th century. The project is part of a larger effort carried out by the IEC that aims at recovering and disseminating, by means of computer technology, the bibliographic Catalan scientific heritage. One of the most recent outcomes in this regard is the exhaustive digitization of books (lectures and proceedings of papers) that came out of the above-mentioned Congresses of Physicians and Biologists of Catalan Language (until 1934, Congresses of Physicians of Catalan Language) from 1913 to the present (3). These digital versions are now available on the Internet. At the same time, the Catalan Society for the History of Science and Technology (SCHCT), which is affiliated with the IEC, has frequently expressed concern regard174

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

GARCÍA-LLADÓ, ET AL.

Classifying and grouping: publishing online the content of Ciència

ing very old scientific journals, which tend to be underestimated or even forgotten due to the obsolescence of their content. A good example of this is that the ARCA digital repository (Archive of Antique Catalan Periodicals) at the Library of Catalonia did not include scientific journals until 2009. The introduction of the first scientific journal in this repository (La Medicina Catalana. Portantveu de l’Occitània Mèdica, 1933–1938) resulted from negotiations between the Biblioteca de Catalunya and three representatives of the SCHCT (Àlvar Martínez Vidal, José Pardo Tomás, and Alfons Zarzoso). The latter formed a research team that worked on the project “Medicine and its audience in Barcelona during the inter-war period: the Union of Physicians of Catalonia (1920–1939)” (HUM2006-07206-C03-03), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIIN). The digitization of the above-mentioned Butlletí del Sindicat de Metges de Catalunya (1920–1937), which was immediately placed within ARCA, was made entirely possible by this research project. The program for the selective recovery of the major medical journals from this period was continued thanks to the MICIIN’s funding of the research project “Between Central and Peripheral Science: Medical Publications in Catalonia (1898–1938)” (HAR2009-11342), which was carried out by Àlvar Martínez Vidal—who was then a lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Initially funded until December 2012, the program for the selective recovery of the major medical journals from this period has been continued. An outcome of that project is the digital archive Premsa Mèdica Catalana, which can be freely accessed online [www.premsamedica.cat]. The project funded by the IEC, “Scientific periodicals: location, digitization and dissemination of Catalan scientific, technological, medical periodicals published in Catalan (1898–1938)” aims at recovering and disseminating, by means of their identification and digital preservation, scientific journals published in Catalan between 1898 and 1938. Out of 54 science, technology, and medical journals and other periodicals (including those in the disciplines of pharmacy and veterinary medicine), nine have been prioritized according to the following criteria: (a) their relevance, which is defined by their age, lifetime, number of pages, and level of interest; and (b) the absence of copyright ownership by present-day institutions or people. The project comprises three stages: (i) finding all the issues of each journal from library catalogs and in situ confirmation; (ii) the digitization of all the issues using optical character recognition (OCR); and (iii), the creation of a digital repository of scientific periodicals in Catalan, with its own search engine and links to similar repositories such as ARCA and Premsa Mèdica Catalana.

www.cat-science.cat

The unabridged digitization of Ciència began once an agreement between the two institutions interested in the project— Ateneu Barcelonès, owner of the magazine collection to be digitized, and the IEC, promoter of the project—was reached. After a long discussion on how to obtain the best technical results, the process was carried out according to the following criteria (4): (i) digitization in TIFF format, 24-bit color, uncompressed and at 600 dpi; (ii) creation of TIFF files at 400 dpi per page; (iii) creation of JPEG files at 150 dpi per page; (iv) creation of PDF files with recognized text at 150 dpi per page; (v) creation of TXT files from the text extracted from each page by the OCR process; (vi) storage of the resulting files on external USB 2.0 hard disks; and (vii) control and follow-up of the project and the digitized pages in Excel format. Digitization took place on the premises of the Ateneu Barcelonès, owner of the collections, where a room was allocated for the task. The hardware used included a BookEye 3 Color Repro (a special scanner for books), a computer, a bar code reader, and external USB hard disks. Once this first digitization stage was completed, the material was reviewed and grouped into PDF files, according to the same sections used to organize the magazine throughout its history: Contents, Scientific and Technological articles, Abstracts and Translations (which was changed to Miscellany from issue 37 onwards), and News (which was changed to Chronicles from issue 37 onwards). In addition to this general classification, Ciència included other sections that also changed, appeared, and disappeared according to the editorial needs of the times. Those sections were: Catalan Scientific Institutions, Scientific Societies, Congresses and Lectures (from issue 17 onwards); Chemical Society of Catalonia (from issue 33 onwards); and Press Clippings (from issue 34 onwards). Two additional sections were included during the last period of the magazine: Catalan Society for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (from issue 44 onwards) and a section dedicated to the Association of Directors of Electrical and Mechanical Industries of the IEMA (from issue 46 onwards). Digitization of the issues also included a bibliographical section and reproduction of the magazine covers. The last stage of the magazine’s digitization process, which is still in progress, involves putting the data on the web. This involves the transfer of the digitized content, already grouped and indexed, in the structure proposed by the IEC, which is based on the typical layout and organization of a scientific journal. Once all the data have been entered, a key publication in the history of science in Catalonia will be freely available on line.

175

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

Ciència magazine: first period

Notes 1.

14. Martín-Berbois JL (2012) El Sindicat de Metges de Catalunya: un exemple de perserverança en la defensa de la medicina i el país. Afers, Catarroja 145 pp. 15. Martínez-Vidal A, Perona J (2011) La consolidación de las especialidades médicas a través de un ‘abstract journal’: La Medicina Catalana. Portantveu de l’Occitània mèdica (Barcelona, 1933–938). In: Actas del XV Congreso de la SEHM. SEHM-UCLM, Ciudad Real, pp. 287-292. 16. Pastor-Cubo I, Martínez-Vidal À (2002) L’Acadèmia, expressió del catalanisme mèdic (1898–1923). L’Informatiu: Acadèmia de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya i de Balears 3:25-28 17. Perdiguero E, Pardo-Tomás J, Martínez-Vidal À (2009) Physicians as a public for the popularisation of medicine in interwar Catalonia: The Monografies Mèdiques series. In: F Papanelopoulou, A Nieto-Galan, E Perdiguero (eds) Popularizing science and technology in the European periphery, 1800–2000. Ashgate, Farnham, pp. 195-216 18. Piqueras M (2008) Aproximació històrica al món de la publicació científica. Quaderns de la Fundació Dr. Antoni Esteve 15:1-14 19. Ramis-Coris J (1996) Els Congressos de Metges i Biòlegs de Llengua Catalana: Gairebé un segle. Uriach, Barcelona, 547 pp. 20. Roca-Rosell A (ed) (2008) L’Escola Industrial de Barcelona: Cent anys d’ensenyament tècnic i d’arquitectura. Diputació de Barcelona, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Consorci de l’Escola Industrial de Barcelona, Barcelona, 544 pp 21. Salavert-Fabiani VA, Camarasa JM, Vidal JM (eds) (2007) Cartes que lliguen: les correspondències científiques com a font de la història de la ciència. Jornada d’homenatge a Joan Joaquim Rodríguez Femenias (1939–1905) en el centenari de la seva mort. Afers, Catarroja-Maó, 134 pp. 22. Valentines J (2012) Tecnocràcia i catalanisme tècnic a Catalunya als anys 1930: els enginyers industrials, de l’organització del taller a la racionalització de l’estat (doctoral thesis). Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra [http://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/96722] 23. Wong WS (2000) Establishing the modern advertising languages: Patent medicine newspaper advertisements in Hong Kong, 1945–1970. Journal of Design History 13(3):213-226 24. Zarzoso A, Fajula S (2009) Premsa mèdica catalana. COMB, Barcelona, 24 pp. 25. Zarzoso A, Fajula S (2010) Publicitat i medicina. COMB, Barcelona, 24 pp. 26. Zarzoso A, Fajula S (2011) Especialidades médicas en el papel: publicaciones y publicidad en la prensa médica catalana. In: Actas del XV Congreso de la SEHM. Transmisión del conocimiento médico e internacionalización de las prácticas sanitarias: una reflexión histórica. SEHM-UCLM, Ciudad Real, pp. 283-286

The biographies of Leandre Cervera i Astor, Pius Font i Quer, Pere Bosch i Gimpera, and Josep de Calassanç Serra i Ràfols were obtained from “Membres numeraris i emèrits de l’IEC” at the website of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) [www.iec.cat]. Last visit, October 9, 2013. The research project (PT2012-S02-MARTINEZ) is supervised by Francesc Asensi Botet, member of the Biological Sciences Section of the IEC. Its principal investigators are Àlvar Martinez-Vidal and Alfons Zarzoso, members of the Catalan Society for the History of Science and Technology. The content of all books produced by the above mentioned congresses can be freely accessed at the Fundació Alsina i Bofill website [fab.espais.iec. cat/congressos-de-metges-i-biolegs-de-llengua-catalana-cmblc] The technical settings are those included in the budget presented by SPI (the company in charge of the digitization) and approved by the IEC.

References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13.

Alberola P (2011) Ciència. Revista catalana de Ciència i Tecnologia. Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filologia 51:35-50 Anonymous (1927) Ciència 12:3-5 Anonymous (1930) Ciència 37:3-4 Anonymous (1931) Ciència 38:129-130 Bynum W, Lock S, Porter R (eds.) (1992) Medical journals and medical knowledge: historical essays. Routledge, London, 272 pp. Canosa-Farran F (2005) El somni d’una societat i d’un periodisme: la televisió de paper (1931-1936) (doctoral thesis) Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona [http://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/9219] Chemical Society of Catalonia (1931) Sis conferències sobre adobs. Ciència 41:393-394 Deó i Raventós JF (1998) Apunts per a una història de la premsa científica i tècnica en català. Gazeta: Actes de les Primeres Jornades de la Premsa 1:137-147 Figueres JM (2011) El cas de les dues revistes Ciència. Mètode 69:34-40 Gaudellière JP, Hess V (eds.) (2013) Ways of regulating drugs in the 19th and 20th centuries. Palgrave McMillan, Basingstoke Guillamet J (1989) Ciència i el periodisme científic. Annals del Periodisme Català 15:41-47 Herran N (2010) Science to the glory of God: The popular science magazine Iberica and its coverage of radioactivity, 1914–1936. Science and Education 21(3):335-353 March-Noguera J (2002) La Revista Ciència (1926-1933): Primera revista de ciències i de tècnica en català. In: J Batlló, P De la Fuente, R Puig (eds) Actes de la VI Trobada d’Història de la Ciència i la Tècnica. Institut d’Estudis Catalans, pp. 381-387.

www.cat-science.cat

176

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 169-176

FORUM AND FOCUS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.177 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Ciència magazine, second period (1980–1991): Recovering normality for the Catalan scientific language Montserrat Vallmitjana Societat Catalana de Biologia, Barcelona, Catalonia Correspondence: M. Vallmitjana C/ Rosselló 157 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia Email: montseval@gmail.com

Summary. Ciència. Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia (1926–1933) was the ﬁrst science magazine

written in Catalan. A second science magazine, which bore the same name and was essentially a continuation of the first, was launched in 1980. It was founded by Joan Senent-Josa and Francesc Solé Plana and was published from July 1980 until March 1991, with a two-year hiatus prior to its end. It was a Catalan-rooted magazine but also highly universal in its approach, reflecting the prestigious Catalan and foreign scientists who published articles in it. The magazine contained scholarly papers, interviews, and even short stories, among its other sections. At its peak it had a monthly circulation of 8000. Publication ceased due to financial constraints. Keywords. popular science magazine · science · research · Catalan · culture Resum. La primera revista científica de divulgació escrita en català va ser Ciència. Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia (1926-1933). L’any 1980 va aparèixer una segona revista científica en català que es va dir com la primera, de la qual podem considerar una segona etapa. Fou fundada per Joan Senent-Josa i Francesc Solé Plana i va existir des de juliol de 1981 al març de 1991, però amb una aturada de dos anys abans del final definitiu. Va ser una revista molt catalana però també molt universal i d’un nivell molt elevat per la categoria dels científics catalans i estrangers que hi van col·laborar. Comptava amb articles científics, entrevistes i moltes seccions fixes. En els seus millors moments la seva tirada era de 8.000 exemplars mensuals. Es va deixar de publicar per motius econòmics. Paraules clau. revista de divulgació científica · ciència · recerca · català · cultura

Background

Catalan magazine of science and technology) was the first truly modern, popular, and interdisciplinary scientific magazine written in Catalan [1]. It was first published in February 1926, and its last issue appeared in February 1933. Although at that time many Catalan magazines and newspapers, there were no such science publications, apart from medical journals. The first Catalan science magazine, Ciència, included in its 48 pages articles from the various fields of science and technology as well as more journalistic items such as feature stories, essays, brief articles, and simple notes. It also published a few monographic issues. The appointed editor was Ramon Peypoch (1898–1984) and the magazine came out monthly, although only 53 rather than the anticipated 73 issues were published during the magazine’s seven years of existence [5].

In Catalonia, the 20th century was marked by continuous workers’ conflicts and the restoring of political autonomy after its abolishment in 1714. The Setmana Tràgica (The Tragic Week), the Mancomunitat de Catalunya (Commonwealth of Catalonia), Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship (1923–1930), the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Franco’s dictatorship (1939–1975), the Transition (1975–1982), and Jordi Pujol’s government (1980–2003) were the different historical periods in which the Catalan language was either prohibited or promoted. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, several science magazines contained articles in Catalan [4]. However, Ciència. Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia (Science. www.cat-science.cat

177

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

Ciència magazine: The second period

Ciència debuted during Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship, a time when the Catalan language was strongly persecuted. As was the case with other magazines from that era, the mere publication of Ciència was a sign of resistance against the prevailing cultural oppression. Despite the intense commitment to the magazine by its publishers, Ciència disappeared during the Spanish Second Republic. Many years later, Ramon Peypoch explained the reasons for the closure of the first magazine to Antoni Roca, editor-in-chief of Ciència’s second incarnation. In 1934, after the insurrection of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia against the Spanish Central Government, and in defense of the exercise of autonomy—events recorded in history as the Fets del 6 d’octubre (Events of 6 October)—Ramon Peypoch left Ciència to take charge of another publication. He was a leading member of the political party Acció Catalana, which published the newspaper called La Publicitat. Following the events of 6 October, this newspaper was also closed down and did not publish new issues until 1 January 1935. The weekly newspaper La Publicitat was temporarily replaced by Mirador, which was issued daily and included a weekly supplement that served as its magazine. Ramon Peypoch took over the newspaper and was its account manager from 1935 onwards. Although the last issue of Ciència corresponded to 1933, it was probably released in 1934. Almost 50 years later, when the war and post-war periods were over, a small group of enthusiastic individuals led by Joan Senent-Josa embarked on the venture of starting the second-ever science magazine written in Catalan [2]. It was named after the first one, Ciència. Revista catalana de ciència i tecnologia, but this time around the word “science” was put in parentheses: (Ciència).

[http://www.ub.edu/cres/catala/recursos_i_bbdd/man/manifest_2.pdf]. The idea of embarking on a further endeavor in the form of Ciència magazine felt very appropriate at the time, especially considering that some of the leading figures in science and technology were from Catalonia. It was not surprising that many Catalan intellectuals and scientists had endorsed the manifesto “El català, idioma científic” (The Catalan language, a scientific language), which had been approved at the Catalan Summer University of Prada de Conflent (UCE, Universitat Catalana d’Estiu) in 1973 [6], an eight-day summer event held in Prada de Conflent, in Northern Catalonia (nowadays the region belongs to France). It consists of short courses, lectures, debates, workshops, exhibitions, film showings, etc., related to Catalan culture and provides a meeting point for students, lecturers, professionals, politicians, and other participants from the various Catalan-speaking territories. One of the paragraphs of the manifesto “El català, idioma científic”, which we fully endorsed at the new start of Ciència, read “If a language has to live to the full, then exclusive literary cultivation does not suffice: the language must be strengthened through the development of scientific and technical terminology, and be in keeping with the vigorous, dynamic nature of science. Only by going down this path can a language achieve its coming of age.” [8] With the endorsement of Ramon Peypoch, the name Ciència was chosen as a tribute to the first Ciència magazine and also to continue from where the latter had left off. The editor during this second endeavor was the biologist Joan Senent-Josa, with the physicist Antoni Roca appointed editorin-chief in 1980 [7]. An Editorial Board was established, made up of Francesc Solé (physicist), Adolf Tobeña and Eduard Rodríguez (both physicians), Rafel Aracil (historian), Eduard Averbuj (chemical engineer), Manuel Bermudo (philosopher), Eduard Bonet (engineer), Joan Prat (anthropologist), Ramón Carbó (chemist), and Josep M. Camarasa, Montserrat Ponsà, and, myself, Montserrat Vallmitjana (biologists). The magazine had representatives at different places around the Catalan-speaking territories (Girona, Andorra, and València) as well as correspondents abroad. These were, in the beginning, Salvador Giner, in London; Pere Puigdomènech, in Berlin; Antoni Lloret, in Paris; and Françoise Breton and Xavier Parés, in Boston. Alfonso García Pérez was the correspondent appointed in Madrid. An Advisory Board made up of leading Catalan scientists was also established. It included Joan Oró (1923–2004), Ramon Margalef (1919– 2004), Salvador Giner, and Josep Ferrater Mora (1912– 1991). The engineer and lexicographer Lluís Marquet i Ferigle (1937–2011) was appointed language adviser of the magazine; Francesc Solé and a few individuals who participated in privately funding the magazine were appointed members of the Editorial Board.

The second Ciència magazine The second magazine was created based on Joan Senent-Josa’s wish to issue a scientific periodical in Catalan. This wish would have remained exactly that if it had not been for the drive and determination of Joan Senent-Josa and the financial support of several individuals, especially Francesc Solé. The eventual format of Ciència was initially drafted by a group of young university professionals, myself included. Our group of biologists, chemists, physicists, and physicians gathered as a “research committee” that from late 1974 until 1978 met at the Col·legi Oficial de Llicenciats en Filosofia i Lletres i en Ciències de Catalunya (Official Association of Doctors and Graduates in Humanities and Sciences of Catalonia). We took part in the first Congress of Catalan Culture (1975–1977) and, among many other ventures, wrote manifestos in opposition to the waste disposal site to be built at El Garraf and the project of land recovery and subsequent housing construction on the Alfacs peninsula, at the Ebro Delta. www.cat-science.cat

178

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

VALLMITJANA

Fig. 1. Ciència magazine covers from the 1980s.

many articles written for the first issue of the magazine, one by Ramon Margalef, “Cap a una teoria de la biosfera” (Towards a theory of the biosphere) stood out. The interview in this first issue was with Joan Oró, Catalan biochemist who worked in the United States and had collaborated with NASA. Ciència’s regularly appearing sections were the following: (a) Agenda, which announced events such as congresses, lectures, exhibitions, or open calls; (b) Els mots (Words), with an article by Josep M. Camarasa in the first issue titled “Darwin i la lexicografia científica catalana de la renaixença” (Darwin and scientific lexicography in Catalan during the Renaixença); (c) El mussol (The owl), with the debut article “Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, in memoriam” [Rodríguez de la Fuente, who had passed away recently, was a very popular scientific communicator]; (d) Bibliografia científica (Scientific references), with reviews of books on language, anthropology, cookery, and wine, written or translated into Catalan in the 1980s, for example “Els vins de Catalunya” (Wines from Catalonia); (e) Tast i flaire (Taste and smell), with “Un cop d’ull al llibre de Coch” (A look at Coch’s book) in the first issue, by Dolors Llopart; (f) L’Opinió (Opinion) consisting of letters to the editor, which in the first issue included letters of endorsement of the joint project from the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Autonomous Catalan Government) and the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC; Institute for Catalan Studies); (g) Ficció (Fiction), which consisted of a science fiction short story, with the first one a story by Jaume Freixa: “Memòries d’una rata de Skinner” (Memories of one of Skinner’s rats); (h) La Ciència a l’escola (Science in school); and (i) Jocs i entreteniments matemàtics (Games and mathematical pastimes).

The highly original and groundbreaking graphic design of Ciència’s logo, layout, and cover design included the name ‘ciència’ in lower case and in parentheses. It was the work of Enric Satué, a young renowned graphic designer who worked for the magazine for very little money (Fig. 1). It was his suggestion to put the name of the magazine in parentheses. He also suggested some of the titles of the different sections of the magazine. The world-famous Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies provided a drawing made especially for the magazine, marking the start of its interest in collecting artwork. The first issue of Ciència was finished on 18 April 1980 and finally appeared on 3 July. At the presentation, Joan Oró highlighted the role of the magazine as a springboard for Catalan scientists. The 8000 copies that had been printed sold out in a few months, and about 1000 subscriptions were secured within a very short time.

What was Ciència like? The magazine had two editorial columns written by Joan Senent-Josa. One had a more general approach and addressed issues such as scientific policies, Catalan as a scientific language, and other topics of general interest. The other editorial focused mainly on the articles published in each particular issue. Every issue included a monographic section made up of two or three articles on a single topic; there were also additional articles on other subjects and an interview with a leading Catalan or foreign scientist or, from time to time, notable individuals from the arts. The magazine also contained many regular features. Thus, in the first issue there was a report on energy. Among the www.cat-science.cat

179

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

Ciència magazine: The second period

The good times

These sections, however, varied over time. Some disappeared and new ones were created, such as La ciència en la història (Science in history) or El fil d’Ariadna (Ariadne’s thread). The October 1980 issue, the third one, contained a monographic section entitled “Einstein entre nosaltres” (Einstein among us); the editorial, “Ara, transferir la recerca” (Now, let’s transfer research), which focused on the need to transfer responsibility for research in Catalonia from the Spanish Government to the Catalan Government, which at the time had yet to occur. The interview was with Joaquim Moles (a prominent figure in literature and the arts), and the Catalan writer and poet Josep Elies (1941–1982) wrote the science fiction short story. Soon after that, the magazine launched a series of manifestos and declarations, such as “Recerca i autonomia, declaració dels científics catalans” (Research and autonomy, a declaration by Catalan scientists), which appeared on page 5 of the fourth issue (November, 1980) and was endorsed by several well-known individuals. Other declarations and manifestos were published later, for example, an antinuclear declaration (December, 1981). Ciència provided a platform for Catalan scientists to promote their work in their own language. It allowed the dissemination of research carried out in Catalonia, discussion of current hot issues, and the publication of contributions from Catalan and foreign scientists. There were also analyses of historical texts by, for example, Einstein, Watson and Crick, and Durand Reynals, in which their continuing validity was demonstrated. At the same time, the magazine was a powerful tool in establishing linguistic and cultural normalization. It was available to everyone with an interest in culture, and not just to those who were scientists. The income of the magazine came from different sources. There was advertising, although it was scarce. Among the first advertisers were the publishing house Blume, the savings bank Caixa de Barcelona, and the firm Hoechst Ibérica. They were later joined by Nenuco (a firm managed by Miquel Horta) and IBM, among others. However, the main resources came from an agreement with the Catalan Government: 1000 copies of each publication were purchased at a reduced price and handed out in primary and secondary schools, universities, and libraries. This, together with subscriptions and direct sales at newsstands, allowed the magazine a circulation that at its peak reached 6000–8000 copies, according to Francesc Solé. Four top-quality issues came out between 3 July 1980 and 4 November 1980, followed by a publishing hiatus that lasted until June 1981. Indeed, the financial situation of the magazine was catastrophic. More money had to be put forward and a series of changes occurred: Ricard Moles stepped down as member of the Editorial Board and two new members joined. www.cat-science.cat

Francesc Solé undertook the task of re-launching the magazine. With its renewed financing Ciència recovered and was published on a regular basis between 1982 and 1984, the magazine’s best years. It contained articles of great interest by renowned Catalan professors. Thus, apart from the aforementioned Ramon Margalef (ecology), Antoni Prevosti (genetics, 1919-2011), Joan Oró (biochemistry), Jordi Sabater Pi (primatology, 1922-2009), Antoni Lloret (physics), Claudi Esteva (anthropology), and many others contributed high-quality articles. Foreign scientists also published in the magazine, including the paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and the astrophysicist Carl Sagan (1934–1996). Interviews also played a major role in Ciència. For example, 1982 was the Year of Darwin: it marked the centenary of the death of the British naturalist and the magazine included interviews with several leading evolutionary biologists, that were not published until October 1983. One of the interviewees on that occasion was Lynn Margulis (1937–2011). At the time, she was not well known in Spain, but she would later become very popular as the winner of many awards for her endosymbiosis theory. Shortly after that, Margulis started cooperating with the Department of Microbiology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in Bellaterra, especially with its chairperson Ricard Guerrero, who was her partner since then until her death in 2011. A section included science fiction with short stories by Joan Brossa (1919–1998) and Pere Calders (1912–1994), among other writers. Issues 5 and 6 were published jointly and noted the establishment of the Interdepartmental Research and Technological Innovation Commission (CIRIT). CIRIT was a public body created in 1980 by the Generalitat de Catalunya with the purpose of coordinating the different activities and projects of the departments (ministries) of the Catalan Government in the fields of scientific research and technological innovation in Catalonia. A second aim was to devise a proposal for Catalonia’s Research and Technological Innovation Plan [Act 217/1980, 5 November, published in the Official Gazette of the Catalan Government, 12 November 1980, number 93, p. 1440]. The first appointed vice-president was Gabriel Ferraté i Pascual. Following its establishment, CIRIT published announcements and calls in Ciència. In 1983, Ciència launched the collection of books Clàssics de la Ciència (Science Classics). It was first published in 1984 with support by CIRIT, and Francesc Solé was the editor. Among the titles were: Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man I & II; Josep M. Millàs i Vallicrosa’s Essay on the History of Physics and Mathematics in Catalonia during the Middle Ages; Claude Bernard’s An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine; and Norbert Wiener’s Cybernetics, or, Control and communications in the animal and the machine. The collection consisted of six works in all. 180

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

VALLMITJANA

Manifest del Garraf (Garraf manifesto) in March 1975, protesting the conversion of a natural space in Barcelona into a dumping ground. Despite our efforts, the project came into effect and today the space is a waste storage site. Also, some of the pages published in the supplement contained outstanding articles of science. Simultaneously and coinciding with the end of Franco’s dictatorship, Joan Senent-Josa and a group of friends established the above-mentioned Research Committee of the Association of Doctors and Graduates. Ciència differed from magazines such as Investigación y Ciencia or Mundo Científico. Although both were top-quality magazines, they were translated into Spanish and included scientific work from abroad. Mundo Científico, which has since ceased publication, was a translation of the French magazine La Recherche, and Investigación y Ciencia a translation of the American monthly magazine Scientific American, which remains popular until this day. Would a third version of Ciència currently be possible ? In 2011, Antoni Roca aptly wrote that “Ciència’s heritage is still awaiting a worthy heir.” [7]. In the meantime, scholars and those interested in historical aspects of science over the 20th century will soon be able to browse, read, and download all the issues of the second period of Ciència (73 issues), thanks to a project of the IEC and the Alsina i Bofill Foundation (Fundació Alsina i Bofill, FAB). The magazine has been digitized in high quality and a first pdf version with optical character recognition has been created. It will be uploaded at the IEC online scientific periodicals library (Hemeroteca Científica Catalana), with a mirror website at the FAB. Every time I go back and read Ciència I appreciate its excellence as a scientific magazine, one which was both Catalan and universal in scope, highly idiosyncratic, focusing mainly on science but also on general culture. It popularized the science produced in Catalonia and greatly contributed to establishing and restoring a Catalan scientific terminology. It is a privilege to have participated in this project, especially in its early years.

In 1983, changes were made in the graphic design of the magazine, under its original graphic designer, Satué, and over the years the original layout changed as well.

The end of Ciència Due to various circumstances, the two leading figures behind the magazine had to step down: editor-in chief Antoni Roca, in October 1983, and the editor, Joan Senent, only a few months later. Ciència continued being published from the end of 1984 and throughout 1985, but it did so intermittently. Francesc Solé headed the magazine at that time, serving as editor and as a member of the Editorial Board, and appointed different associate editors, among them, Xavier Torremilans. At the end of 1987, Ciència again ceased publication [3] until April 1990, when with Ferran Fullà as the editor-inchief, the 64th issue was published. The Editorial was a letter to readers proclaiming: “Ciència is out yet again. It was the only way to go, despite the many hurdles such an ambitious endeavor encounters. An enthusiastic team has once again taken on the challenge of continuing the meritorious work others had started with such admirable commitment. All of them have always been well aware of both what it means to talk science in Catalan and the responsibility of reporting on the most up-to-date scientific subjects.” The spirit of Ciència was still the same, but not the people behind it. The Publication Board changed: Montse Ponsà, Montse Vallmitjana, Josep M. Camarasa, Adolf Tobeña, among others, had departed. Lluís Marquet and Eduard Rodríguez remained on the board, and new members were appointed, including Ricard Guerrero. Unfortunately, the financial losses that had always plagued the magazine continued. In all probability, the fact that Ciència had not been on the market for three years meant a loss of interest among potential subscribers. It all came to an end when the Catalan Government reneged on its agreement to purchase 1000 copies of each issue. As a result, the last issue of the magazine came out in March 1991.

Closing thoughts References

For me, Ciència was an adventure even before the magazine finally came to life. Joan Senent-Josa, Jordi López Camps and I had collaborated with the newspaper Diari de Barcelona, in December 1974 and throughout 1975. Scientific articles were published in the Sunday supplement, which back then was tucked into the central pages of the newspaper. Our contact person and the supplement’s editor was the journalist Antonio Álvarez Solís. Also, some of the pages we put together for the Diari de Barcelona newspaper were political. Thus, we published the

www.cat-science.cat

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

181

Deo i Raventós JF (1994) Apunts per a una història de la premsa cientifica i tècnica en català. Gazeta 1:137-147 Figueres JM (2011) El cas de les dues revistes “Ciència”. Mètode 69:3540 Figueres JM (1985) El silenci de la revista Ciència. La Vanguardia, 26 de novembre p. 53 Guillamet J (1989) Ciència i el Periodisme científic. Annals del Periodisme Català 15:41-47 March Noguera J (2002) La revista Ciència (1926-1933), primera revista de ciències i de tècnica en català. In: J Batlló, P Bernat, R Puig (eds) Actes

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

Ciència magazine: The second period

de la VI Trobada d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica (Barcelona, 2000) pp 381-387 Piqueras M (2013). El català com a llengua de la ciència. ARA, September 29, 2013, p. 37

www.cat-science.cat

182

Roca Rosell A (2011) Una experiència inoblidable … per moltes raons! Mètode 69:38 Senent-Josa J (1975) El catalán, lengua de expresión científica. Destino 1952-1956:8-9

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 177-182

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.178 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

David Cardús (1922–2003), the physician of the space Mercè Piqueras,1 Ricard Guerrero2 Catalan Society for the History of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Catalonia

Institute for Catalan Studies, Barcelona, Catalonia

ON JUNE 1, 2003, DAVID CARDÚS, a Catalan physiciand and scientist who had lived and worked in the United States for almost 50 years, died in Spring, Texas. Trained as a cardiologist, Cardús conducted research in a wide array of medical fields, including the effects of gravitation on human physiology, spinal cord injury rehabilitation, respiratory physiology, aging, and the use of computational and mathematical systems to analyze biological data. Throughout his life, he maintained close ties with Catalonia and Catalan language and culture, working actively to ensure an awareness of both in the United States. The tenth anniversary of his death is a good opportunity to remember him not only as an outstanding physician and scientist, but also as a passionate advocate of the interests of his country. David Cardús was born in Barcelona on August 6, 1922. He studied at the Institut Escola, a public school whose core values were mass literacy and equal access to education. In 1939, following the Spanish Civil War, he moved to France with his father—his mother had died in 1933. In 1942, after his graduation in Arts and Science (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) from the University of Montpellier, France, he returned to Barcelona, and he was forced to serve in the army for four years. Afterwards he studied medicine at the University of Barcelona, earning his M.D. degree in 1949. He did his internship at the Clinic Hospital of the University of Barcelona and completed his residency, from 1950 to 1953, at the private Sanatorium of Puig de l’Olena, in Sant Quirze de Safaja, a small village in the mountains, north of Barcelona. During that time, despite the recent availability of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis, mountain air was still considered curative of the disease and was a therapeutic option adopted by those families who could afford it. During his time at the sanatorium, Cardús met Joan Colomines Puig (1922–2011), a laboratory physician who familiarized Cardús with the Dubos and Middlebrook hemagglutination test in the diagnosis www.cat-science.cat

of tuberculosis [1]. The Puig d’Olena sanatorium, which was in operation from 1933 to 1954, was more than a health center; it was a private hospital owned by Maria Plana, a woman who sympathized with Catalanists. Many of the people who had fled to France at the end of the Civil War but returned because the insecure conditions of German-occupied France, made a stop at Puig d’Olena before going to Barcelona. The sanatorium’s patient population included intellectuals and artists, such as the painter Antoni Tàpies (1923–2012), the poet Màrius Torres (1910–1942), who died in the sanatorium, and the writer, literary critic, publisher, and editor, both in Catalan and in Spanish, Josep Maria Castellet. The abovementioned physician Joan Colomines went on to become the author of poetry, plays, and essays, as well as a political activist, first clandestinely, during Franco’s years, and later as a member of the Parliament of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya). Political exiles tend to meet to maintain links to their countries and so did the Catalans in the countries that hosted them after the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). In France, Cardús met Francesca Ribas, the woman he would marry. Her father, Francesc Ribas, had been a Conseller (Minister) in the Catalan Government during the Spanish Second Republic (1931–1939), and was the personal physician of the Catalan President, Lluís Companys, who was also an exile in France. (In 1940, Companys was arrested by the Nazi authorities and extradited to Spain, where he was accused by the dictatorship of militar rebelion; he was executed in Barcelona on October 15, 1940.) Once David Cardús and Francesca returned to Catalonia, she enrolled at the University of Barcelona, obtaining her M.S. in Pharmacy in 1956 and her Ph.D. in Pharmacy in 1960. That same year, the Cardús family moved to the United States. In Houston, she worked as a Research Associate at Baylor College of Medicine, a position she held from 1970 to 2000. 183

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

David Cardús

Fig. 2. Rotating platform used both in spacecraft, to reproduce gravity, and on Earth, to study the effects of greater or lesser gravitational forces on human biological functions.

Between 1953 and 1954, Cardús was in Paris, on a scholarship awarded to him by the French Government that allowed him to specialize in cardiology at the Bucicot Hospital and La Pieté Hospital. There, he published his first scientific article (see Bibliography at the end). He then returned to Barcelona to become certified in cardiology, at the University of Barcelona. In 1957, with a scholarship from the British Council, he moved to Manchester, UK, where he worked at the Royal Infirmary of the University of Manchester. From 1957 to 1960 he was a Research Associate in the Department of Physiology of the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research (currently, the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. During the 1950s, the Lovelace Foundation had expanded the scope of its research and was the USA’s premier center for research in aviation and space medicine, in the context of which its researchers had developed a protocol to test candidates for their fitness for space missions. In 1960, Cardús settled in Houston, Texas, to work as a Research Associate at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR). He remained at the Institute until his retirement. During his tenure there he held various high-level positions, including Director of Research, Director of the Work Tolerance Laboratory, Director of the Cardiopulmonary and Vital Studies Laboratory, and Director of the Biomathematics Division. The TIRR is a teaching hospital of Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, a leader in medical rehabilitation and research. Its roots go back to the Southwestern Poliomyelitis Respiratory www.cat-science.cat

Center, set up in the early 1950s, when poliomyelitis was a devastating disease in the United States. With the introduction of the polio vaccine, the incidence of the disease decreased dramatically and the expertise and know-how of the center were subsequently applied to the rehabilitation of handicapped patients suffering from other disabling diseases and injuries. In 1966, Cardús obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He had a great interest in mathematics and sought to establish a connection between the life sciences and mathematics. He emphasized the importance of quantitative measures in medicine and biology and the need to apply mathematical models to the study of cardiac function. Later, he became interested in computer science and its application to the life sciences. Cardús realized that physiological data, such as temperature, pulse, and respiration rate, if expressed as discrete data points, could be processed in a computer almost instantaneously. If the data could be entered into a computer in real time, biological functions and any related changes could be studied as they were happening. Cardús even set up a system that, at his office in Houston, allowed him to record and analyze in real time data from a person performing exercises in Barcelona. The results could then be transmitted and visually displayed in Barcelona [4]. It is clear from his bibliography that his interest in these methods stems from as far back as the late 1960s. By 1970, he and his collaborator Lawrence Newton had published a paper describing the development of a computer technique that allowed the transmissions and long-dis184

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

PIQUERAS, GUERRERO

these institutions, since their focus was diagnosis and treatment rather than disease prevention [3]. The scientific output of David Cardús has been analyzed thoroughly by Jacint Corbella, in an article published in the journal of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia [2]. Corbella examined the production of Cardús, in terms of scientific articles indexed in Medline, regarding their distribution over time, the coauthors, and the topics of research. The 54 articles thus identified were published between 1965 and 1997, with the most productive year being 1967 (8 articles indexed). Wesley G. McTaggart and Carles Vallbona, Cardús ’ colleagues at Baylor College, were his most frequent coauthors. Vallbona was also a Catalan physician and was already working at Baylor College when Cardús arrived [6]. The subjects of Cardús research, as reflected in his publications, can be summarized as follows: the physiopathology of the blad-

tance analysis of three analog signals: instantaneous air-flow, O2, and CO2. In addition to his research and his clinical practice, Cardús pursued an academic career, not only at Baylor College of Medicine, where he had several appointments including Professor of Rehabilitation, of Physiology, and of Biomathematics, but also at Rice University, Houston, Texas, where he taught both mathematics and statistics. In 1970, he served as vice-chairman in the organization of a Gordon Conference on biomathematics. (The Gordon Research Conferences are prestigious scientific meetings with a long tradition; they were initiated in the 1920s to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge at the research frontiers of the biological, chemical, and physical sciences.) Both Cardús and Joan Oró—a Catalan biochemist who also settled in Houston [see CONTRIB SCI 2:579-594]—tend to be associated mainly with the work they did for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). However, the collaboration with NASA was only part of their research. Cardús studied the effects of weightlessness on the anatomy and physiology of astronauts. His early studies showed that a loss of gravity, such as experienced by astronauts in outer space, would compromise bone growth, muscle tone, fluid distribution, cardiovascular function, and other biological factors. Cardús searched for a method to counteract these effects, by simulating gravity inside the space vehicles. He invented the artificial gravity simulator (AGS), which consists of a short-radius rotating platform capable of producing a centrifugal effect on astronauts’ bodies that replicates the gravitational effect humans experience on the Earth’s surface (Fig. 1). That rotating platform has been used both in spacecraft, to reproduce gravity, and on Earth, to study the effects of greater or lesser gravitational forces on human biological functions. In addition, Cardús applied his research to health problems common in the normal population. He considered human physical activity at three scales: (i) the capability of performing certain functions, (ii) the optimization of these functions depending on the individual’s general health, and (iii) the adaptability of the individual to environmental changes. Based on these considerations, he used a short-radium centrifuge to study cardiovascular disorders in patients suffering from paralysis caused by spinal injury [3]. The scope of Cardús’ medical interests went beyond the strictly scientific to include social aspects, to which he devoted significant efforts. He believed in medical progress based on the prevention of a disease rather than on its eradication after it had become established in the body. He found a contradiction in references by health managers to a “health system” given that what actually interested them was disease, not health. Similarly, he found the term “Health Center” a misnomer, and “Medical Center” closer to the true aim of www.cat-science.cat

Not in print The achievements of great scientists are recorded in the articles and books they published throughout their careers. But this is not the case for many of their ideas and thoughts, unless they also published their memoirs or essays. Despite having spent more than half of his life abroad, David Cardús maintained his ties to his homeland, Catalonia, as well as his love of its language and culture. During one of his stays in Barcelona, in 1995, he talked about language during a radio interview. In that interview he mentioned that a friend of his has sent him the Dictionary of Catalan Language, which had just been published by the Institute for Catalan Studies, in Barcelona. Cardús said that he appreciated that gift very much and would make good use of it; besides, he added, he always thought of his friend Ricard each time he used the Dictionary. It is a shame that, today, with the publication of dictionaries on line, this kind of personal connection has been lost. R. Guerrero

David Cardús (1922–2003), cardiologist.

185

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

David Cardús

dent of the International Society for Gravitational Physiology, member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Mathematical Biology, chairman of the board of the Institute for Hispanic Culture in Houston, founding member and president of the Spanish Professionals in America, and member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Both Baylor College of Medicine and the Autonomous University of Barcelona made him Doctor honoris causa. The Autonomous Government of Catalonia awarded him the Sant Jordi Cross and the Narcís Monturiol Medal, and the Spanish Government the “Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica”. In July 2005, Francesca Ribas, Cardús widow, donated a collection of books from her husband’s library to the Institute for Catalan Studies (Fig. 2). It consists of more than 1000 books on biology, medicine, physics, and mathematics. The books will be classified and kept at the science library of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the institution that recognized Cardús achievements with an honorary doctorate in 1994. Cardús belonged to a generation of Catalan scientists who emigrated to other countries to search for what they could not find in Spain, which was recovering from a civil war and was isolated internationally. Most of the country’s best researchers and those that might have been their mentors had either gone into exile or died during the war. In Houston, there were other Catalan researchers, not only physicians but also, for example, the aformentioned biochemist Joan Oró, who after teaching at Baylor College of Medicine became Full Professor of Biochemistry at Houston University; Carles Vallbona, Distinguished Service Professor of Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine; and Lluís Delclós, Margaret and Ben Love Professor in Clinical Cancer Care at M.D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. While all of these men were well integrated in their host country, they maintained their ties to Catalonia. because, as Pasteur said, even if science does not have homeland, scientist do. Cardús’ spirit still hovers over the AICS—currently presided by her daughter, Helena Cardus—which continues to promote Catalan culture in the United States.

Fig. 2. Francesca Ribas, Cardús widow, and Salvador Alegret and Ricard Guerrero in the Institute for Catalan Studies in 2005.

der; the effects of bedrest on various physiological functions; cardiac physiopathology and respiratory functions in people suffering from injuries of the central nervous system and the effects on respiratory functions; physical exercise and rehabilitation; spinal cord injury with respect to rehabilitation; public health; mathematics as applied to medicine; the simulation of changing gravity; and books on various topics, in which Cardús was either coauthor or an editor [2]. In 1979, Cardús and his wife, Francesca, founded the American Institute of Catalan Studies (AICS), with the goal of raising awareness among Americans of the historical, cultural, artistic, and economics aspects of Catalonia that distinguish it as a nation. AICS promotes scientific, literary, and educational studies related to Catalonia; translates and publishes Catalan literary works; and organizes artistic and popular events such as concerts, demonstrations of castellers (human towers), and the annual celebrations of Sant Jordi’s Day (April 23) and the National Day of Catalonia (September 11). It also publishes the bulletin Catalonia. In 1999, Cardús promoted the federation of all the Catalan entities in the United States. An active member in many professional associations, Cardús served as an officer in several of them. He was presi-

References 1. 2.

3. 4.

Colomines Puig, J (2004) Notes on the evolution of the clinical laboratory in Catalonia. Gimbernat 42:235-255 (In Catalan) Corbella, J (2004) The scientific work by Dr. David Cardús. (Barcelona 1922–Houston 2003). Rev Reial Acad Med Catalunya 19:71-76 (In Catalan) Guerrero R (2006) David Cardús: space’s physician. Catalunya Recerca 4:14-15 (In Catalan) Newton DE (2007) Latinos in science, maths and professions, A to Z of Latino Americans. Facts on File, New York

www.cat-science.cat

186

Oleski W (1998, updated 2004) Cardús, David. Hispanic-American Scientists. American Profiles. Facts On File, New York http://www.fofweb. com/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=HisAmSci2&DataType=AmericanH istory&WinType=Free (accessed, November 2013) Ugalde A, Homedes N (2003) The diaspora of the Catalans to the United States throughout the 20th century: the migratory process and the contribution of Catalan scientists in the field of health. Gimbernat 39:237-257 (In Catalan)

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

PIQUERAS, GUERRERO

David Cardús’ Curriculum Vitae and Bibliography Note: This CV and list of publications is based on the list that one of us (R. Guerrero) received from Prof. David Cardús in 1997.

Curriculum vitae

Professor of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX Adjunct Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Statistics, Rice University, Houston, TX Education

1942: Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics), University of Montpellier, France 1949: M.D. Degree Magna Cum Laude, University of Barcelona Medical School, Barcelona, Catalonia 1949-1950: (Internship) Clinic Hospital of the University of Barcelona 1950-1953: (Residency) Sanatori Puig d’Olena (Respiratory Diseases), Sant Quirze de Safaja, Barcelona 1956: (Certification) Postgraduate School of Cardiology, Diploma in Cardiology, University of Barcelona 1953-1954: Postgraduate Department of Cardiology of Hôpital Boucicaut and Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, France (Fellow, French Government) 1954-1956: Postgraduate School of Cardiology, University of Barcelona 1957: Department of Cardiology, Manchester Royal Infirmary, University of Manchester, England (Fellow, British Council) 1966: Summer Institute in Mathematics for Life Scientists, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (National Institute of Health Trainee), Michigan, USA Major areas of interest

Cardiology · gravitational physiology · preventive medicine · rehabilitation · aging Major research interests

Exercise physiology (applications to space research, health and aging) Rehabilitation medicine (applications to cardiac rehabilitation, bladder dynamics and body composition in extensive paralysis) Application of computers and mathematical models to medicine Application of benefit-cost theory to rehabilitation medicine Honors and awards

University of Barcelona Medical School, M.D. Degree Magna Cum Laude, 1949 Fellowship of the French Government, 1953-1954 Fellowship of the British Council, 1957 Fellowship of the Institute of International Education, 1957-1960 Society Sigma Xi (Rice University Chapter), 1963 National Institutes of Health Trainee, 1966 American Urological Association 1st Prize for Exhibit on Clinical Research, 1967 American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine, Gold Award for Scientific Exhibit, “Micturition Following Spinal Cord Injury”, 1967 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, August Pi-Sunyer Prize of Physiology for paper “A New Method for Respiratory Measurements in Man”, 1968 5th International Congress of Physical Medicine, 1st Prize for Scientific Exhibit, “Micturition Following Spinal Cord Injury”, 1968 Vice-Chairman, Gordon Conference on Biomathematics, 1970 Gold Medal for Demonstration on “Use of Computers and Telecommunications in Rehabilitation Medicine”, 6th Intemational Congress of Physical Medicine, 1972 Member, Societal Catalana de Biologia, 1972 Charter Member, Society for Mathematical Biology

www.cat-science.cat

187

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

David Cardús

American Medical Association, Physician’s Recognition Award in Continuing Medical Education, 1974-1977 Member, Instituto de Cultura Hispánica de Madrid Elisabeth and Sidney Licht Award for Excellence in Scientific Writing, The American Congress of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 1980 Commendation of Isabel La Católica, awarded by H.M. King Juan Carlos de España, 1980 Medal Narcís Monturiol, awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia) for his contributions in rehabilitation and space biomedical research, 1985 Catalunya Enfora Award, presented by the Institute of Iberoamerican Cooperation, 1987 Creu de Sant Jordi (St. George’s Cross), awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya, 1992 Honorary Doctor’s Degree (Doctor Honoris Causa), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, 1993 Joan d’Alòs Award. Centre Cardiovascular Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain, 1996 Professional experience and background

Research Associate, Department of Physiology, University of Barcelona, 1954-1955 Research Associate, Department of Physiology, The Lovelace Foundation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1957-1960 Research Associate in Physiological Studies, Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (ITRR), 1960– Director, Work Tolerance Laboratory, TIRR, 1960– Active Medical Staff, TIRR, 1960– Director of Research, TIRR, 1962-1966 President Active Medical Staff, TIRR, 1967-1968 Chairman, Information Sciences Committee, TIRR, 1968-1978 Director, Cardiopulmonary and Vital Studies Laboratory, TIRR, 1969-1978 Director, Biomathematics Division, TIRR, 1970– Academic appointments

Professor, Department of Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, 1969– Professor, Department of Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, 1973– Adjunct Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Rice University, 1970-1988 Adjunct Professor of Statistics, Rice University, 1989– Director, Biomathematics Program, Baylor College of Medicine, 1966-1968 Graduate Executive Committee, Baylor College of Medicine, 1968-1969 Chairman, Biomathematics Committee, School of Graduate Studies, Baylor College of Medicine, 1968-1969 Visiting Professor of Physiology, Fac. of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1970 Consultant positions

Scientific Advisory Council, Common Research Computer Facility, Texas Medical Center, Houston, 1965-1966 Rehabilitation Subcommittee, Texas Heart Association, 1967-1969 U.S. Public Health Service, Division of Health Facilities, Planning and Construction Service, 1967 Mathematical Association of America, 1968 Veterans Administration Hospital, Houston, Texas, 1969– Community Medicine, Harris County Hospital District, 1974– Pan American Health Organization, 1977– Professional organizations and positions held

American College of Chest Physicians, 1960– New York Academy of Sciences, 1962– Harris County Medical Society, 9th District Medical Society, 1963Texas Medical Association, 1963– American Congress of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 1964– American Physiological Society, 1964– Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 1964–

www.cat-science.cat

188

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

PIQUERAS, GUERRERO

Houston Academy of Medicine, Texas Medical Center Library, Scientific Advisory Committee, 1964– American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1965– American College of Cardiology, 1965– Institute of Hispanic Culture of Houston, 1966– (President, 1967; Chairman of the Board of Directors, 19681969, and 1971-1976) American Heart Association, Texas, Affiliate, 1967– Biomedical Engineering Society, 1970– Automedica Advisory Editorial Committee, 1970– American Association of University Professors, 1971– American College of Sports Medicine, 1971– Society for Mathematical Biology, 1972– (Board of Directors, 1982) Methods of Information in Medicine, Editorial Board, 1977– Founding member and first president of the American Institute for Catalan Studies (AICS), 1980– Catalan Review, Editorial Board, 1980– Cuadernos de ALDEEU, Editorial Board, 1983– Founding Member and president of the Spanish Professionals in America, Inc. (Asociación de Licenciados y Doctores Españoles en Estados Unidos, ALDEEU), 1984-1985 American College of Preventive Medicine, 1989– Aerospace Medical Association, 1989– American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, 1990– International Society for Gravitational Physiology (ISGP), President, 1993 Journal of Gravitational Physiology (ISGP), Editorial Board, 1994– Grants awarded for the following research projects

The Effects of Bedrest on Various Parameters of Physiological Function. Co-Principal Investigator. NAS-9 1461 (1963-1965) Micturition Studies in Spinal Cord Injury. Co-Investigator. PSH NB-3751-(1965-1968) General Clinical Research Center for Chronic Illness. Chairman of the Clinical Research Center Advisory Committee. DHEW FR-00219 (1963-1970) BUCM Computational Research Center Program. Director of Mathematics and Statistics Program. FR-00259 (1965-1968) A Work Tolerance Evaluation Research and Training Unit for a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Principal Investigator. DHEW 13-P-55235/6 (1969-1974) Body Composition Determinations on Paralytic Persons. Principal Investigator. DHEW RD-1871-M-66 (1969-1974) National Research and Demonstration Center for Heart and Vessel Disease Demonstration Project. Establishing an Outpost in the Community for Screening and Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Principal Investigator. DHEW HL-17269 (1974-1975) Rehabilitation Research and Training Center no. 4. Principal Investigator in the following projects. DHEW 16-D5681/6 (1969-1980) Total Creatinine in Patients with Extensive Muscular Paralysis Estimated by Radioisotopic Tracer Methods (R-22 1969-1973) Exercise and Lipids Profile in Ischemic Heart Disease (R-139.1972-77) Quantitation of ST-segment Changes in Exercise ECG Using Computer Techniques (R-159.197447S) Quantitation of ST-segment Changes in Exercise ECG Using Computer Techniques (R-159.1974-75) Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Patients with Myocardial Ischemia and Arterial Hypertension [R-179 (PR-7) 1977-1980] Evaluation of Physiological Responses and Diagnostic Criteria for the Application of Exercise Stress Testing within the Biomedical Space Program. Principal Investigator. NAS 9-14661 (1975-1977) Cost-Benefits in Vocational Rehabilitation Project. Director and Principal Investigator. DHEW 12-P-59636 (1971-1981)

www.cat-science.cat

189

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

David Cardús

Cost-Benefits in Spinal Cord Injury. Project Director and PI. NIHR C-008005862 (1982-1983) Research and Training Center for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Spinal Cord Dysfunction. Project: Development of a Stress Testing Procedure and a Re-conditioning Exercise Program for Patients with paraplegia (R4). NIHR-G-08005862 (1983-1987) Development of a Reconditioning Exercise Program for Patients with Paraplegia. Principal Investigator. NIHRG-008300044 (1983-1987) Research Center for Spinal Cord Injury Census Project: Cardiorespiratory Function in Spinal Cord Injury, Follow-up and Aging Effects. Principal Investigator. NIHR H-133B80020 (1988-1992) +Gz 100% Gradient Centrifugation During Sleep and Exercise. Its Utility in Counteracting Physiological Microgravity Effects. Principal Investigator. NAGW-1691 (1989-1992) –Gz and +Gz experimentation with the AGS. Principal Investigator. NASA (Subcontract USRA 9910-29-103 ) (1992-1994) Nutritional Status of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: Relationship to Community Integration. Co-Principal Investigator. NIDRR (Grant No. H133B40011-95 (1993-1999) Artificial Gravity as a Countermeasure of Cardiovascular Deconditioning in Simulated Microgravity. Principal Investigator. NASA/TMC (1995-1996) Student doctoral theses

Couch, James R. Jr. “The development of the electrophysiology of the embryonic and fetal heart.” Baylor College of Medicine Smith, Laura K. “Passive motion as a stimulus to ventilation in man.” Baylor College of Medicine Lehman, Jim R. “Quantitative aspects of the inter-conversion of androgens in rat testis and ovary.” Baylor College of Medicine Batiz-Solorzano, Sergio (1979) “On decisions with multiple objectives: Review and classification of prescriptive methodologies, a group value function problem, and applications of a measure of information to a class of multi-attribute.” Rice University Hammons, Charles B (1979) “On subjective data in the multicriteria decision problem.” Rice University Chan, Shou Chao (1979) “Benefit-cost analysis in rehabilitation programs.” Rice University Littell, Elizabeth H (1980) “Neural regulation of blood flow in on-working muscles.” Baylor College of Medicine Domingo, Enric (1982) “Utility of the electric impedance technique in the study of the cardiovascular system.” Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Post-doctorate fellows in Dr. Cardús’ programs

Ernest Pevney. Medical School of Komenius, University of Bratislava, Czechoslovakia Luis I. Vera. School of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Spain Ramón Segura. School of Medicine, University of Sevilla, Spain Eduardo Larrousse. School of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Spain Francisco Fuentes. School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Spain Alfred Johnston. Department of Electronics, Rice University, Houston, Texas Joe Murdock. Mathematical Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas Jacobo Rosenthal. School of Medicine, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela Domingo Hernández. Departamento de Rehabilitación, Ministerio de Sanidad y Asistencia Social, Caracas, Venezuela Ramachandra Srinivasan. Electrical Sciences Department, California Institute of Technology, California Andrés Pie. Department of Physiology, University of Zaragoza, Spain Enric Domingo. School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Norman Fuentes. Departamento de Rehabilitación, Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social, Costa Rica. Branco Lovic. Institute Niska Banja, University of Nis, Yugoslavia Philippe Vidal. École Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Constructions Aéronautiques (ENSICA), Toulouse, France Laurent Bonsergeant. École Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Constructions Aéronautiques (ENSICA), Toulouse, France www.cat-science.cat

190

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

PIQUERAS, GUERRERO

Publications

Vallbona C, Vogt FB, Cardús D, Spencer WA, Walters M (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part I: Review of the literature on the physiological effects of immobilization. NASA Contractor Report CR-171 Vallbona C, Vogt FB, Cardús D, Spencer WA (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part II: Experimental design. NASA Contractor Report CR-172 Vogt FB, Lamonte RJ, Hallen TO, Vallbona C, Cardús D, Spencer WA, Holt TW (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part III: Bioinstrumentation. NASA Contractor Report CR-173 Vallbona C, Spencer WA, Blose W, Cardús D, Vogt FB, Leonard J (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part IV: A system for processing data collected in the immobilization study unit. NASA Contractor Report CR-174 Walters M, Vallbona C, Cardús D, Vogt FB, Spencer WA (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function, Part V: Dietary Requirements. NASA Contractor Report CR-175 Vogt FB, Cardús D, Vallbona C, Spencer WA (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part VI: The effect of the performance of periodic flack maneuvers on preventing cardiovascular deconditioning of bedrest. NASA Contractor Report CR-176 Cardús D, Spencer WA, Vallbona C, Vogt FB (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part VII: Cardiac and ventilatory response to the bicycle ergometer test. NASA Contractor Report CR-177 Vallbona C, Cardús D, Vogt FB, Spencer WA (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part VIII: The effect on the cardiovascular tolerance to passive tilt. NASA Contract Report CR-178 Vallbona C, Spencer WA, Vogt FB, Cardús D (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part IX: The effect on the vital signs and circulatory dynamics. NASA Contractor Report CR-179 Vogt FB, Spencer WA, Cardús D, Vallbona C (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part XI: The effect of bedrest on blood volume, urinary excretion, and urinary electrolyte excretion. NASA Contractor Report CR-181 Vogt FB, Mack PB, Beasley WG, Spencer WA, Cardús D, Vallbona C (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part XII: The effect of bedrest on bone mass and calcium balance. NASA Contractor Report CR-182 Cardús D, Vallbona C, Vogt FB, Spencer WA, Lipscomb HS, Eik-Nes KB (1965) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part XIV: The effect of bedrest on plasma levels and urinary excretion of 17-hydrocorticosteroids. NASA Contractor Report CR-184 Cardús D, Vallbona C, Vogt FB, Spencer WA, Lipscomb HS, Eik-Nes KB (1965) Influence of bedrest on plasma levels of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids. Aerosp Med 36:524-528 Scott FB, Quesada EM, Cardús D, Laskowskl T (1965) Electronic bladder stimulation: dog and human experiments. Invest Urol 3:321 Cardús D (1965) Abstracts of papers presented at the 3rd Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Computer Science in the Life Sciences (ed). Report and Recommendations by the Workshop Conference on Biomedical Computer Training for Research. Houston, TX Vallbona C, Vogt FB, Cardús D, Spencer WA (1966) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part X: The effect of bedrest on the circulatory response to Valsava Maneuver. NASA Contractor Report CR-180 Vogt FB, Spencer WA, Cardús D, Vallbona C (1966) The effect of bedrest on various parameters of physiological function. Part XIII: A review of possible mechanisms of orthostatic intolerance to passive tilt. NASA Contractor Report CR-183 Cardús C, Vallbona C, Spencer WA (1966) Effects of three kinds of artificial respirators on the pulmonary ventilation and arterial blood patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency. Dis Chest 50:297-306 Cardús D (1966) Quantitation in biology and medicine. J Chronic Dis 19:319-324 Cardús D (1966) Effect of 10 days recumbency on the response to the bicycle ergometer test. Aerosp Med 37:993-999

1954–1964 Lian C, Vilenski J, Cardús D (1954) Les syncopes des constipés (Syncopal accidents in patients with constipation). L ’Hôpital, Revue Mensuelle de Clinique et Thérapeutique 42:7-10 Gilbert-Queraltó J, Cardús D (1955) Exploración de la función ventilatoria en el cardiópata (Study of the ventilatory function in the cardiac patient). Rev Port Mad Mil 3:356 Cardús D, Llauradó JG (1955) Observaciones prácticas sobre las determinaciones de sodio, potasio y calcio por la fotometría de llama (Practical observations of determinations of sodium, potassium and calcium by flame photometry). Med Clin 24:193-202 Llauradó JG, Cardús D (1955) El fotómetro de llama en la valoraci6n de la aldosterona, halocortisoles, DOCA y substancias aldosterosímiles (The flame photometer in the evaluation of aldosterone, halocortisoles, DOCA and aldosterone-like substances). Med Clin 25:151-157 Cardús D, MacKinnon J, Wade G (1958) Circulatory effects of changing position in mitral disease. Br Heart J 20:233-243 Cardús D, Vallbona C (1959) Electrónica y enseñanza (Electronics and Teaching). Insula 162:13 Cartwright RS, Palich WE, Lim TPK, Proper R, Cardús D (1960) Experiences in extra-corporeal circulation. Am Surg 26:792-799 Cardús D (1960) Estudios sobre la capacidad humana para el esfuerzo mecánico (Studies on the human capacity to perform mechanical work). University of Barcelona-Frontis, Barcelona, Spain Cardús D, Luft UC, Spencer WA, Hoff HE (1962) Considerations on appraisal of physical fitness. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 43:222-227 Cardús D, Vallbona C (1962) Acerca de la teoría de la información (On the theory of Information). Insula 192:10 Pie A, Vallbona C, Cardús D (1962) Un programa moderno para la enseñanza práctica de la fisiología (A modern program for the practical teaching of physiology). Arch Fac Med de Zaragoza 10:3-16 Vallbona C, Spencer WA, Cardús D, Dale J (1963) Control of orthostatic hypotension of quadriplegic patients with pressure suit. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 44:7-18 Cardús D, Luft UC, Beck B (1963) Measurements of total circulating hemoglobin with the carbon monoxide re-breathing method. J Lab Clin Med 61:944-952 Cardús D, Quesada EM, Scott PB (1963) Use of an electromagnetic flowmeter for urine flow measurements. J Appl Physiol 18:845-847 Cardús D, Hoff HE (1963) Pulmonary ventilation response to the metabolic action of 2,4-dinitrophenol. Arch lnt Pharmacodyn T 144:563-570 Cardús D, Quesada EM, Scott FB (1963) Studies on the dynamics of the bladder. J Urol 90:425-433 Luft UC, Cardús D, Lim TPK, Anderson EC, Howarth JL (1963) Physical performance in relation to body size and composition. Ann NY Acad Sci 110:795-808 Cardús D (1963) A study of the frequency of the heart in the early phase of recovery following muscular exercise. Proceedings 5th IBM Medical Symposium, Endicott, NY Scott FB, Quesada EM, Cardús D (1964) Studies of the dynamics of micturition: observations on healthy men. J Urol 92:455-463 1965–1974 Spencer WA, Cardús D, Vallbona C (1965) Considerations in use of information processing technology in clinical investigations. Proceedings NASA Symposium on the Analysis of central nervous system and cardiovascular data using computer methods. NASA SP-72 Washington Aeronautics and Space Administration Vallbona C, Cardús D, Spencer WA, Hoff HE (1965) Patterns of sinus arrhythmia in patients with lesions of the central nervous system. Am J Cardiol 16:379 Cardús D, Beasley WC, Vogt FB (1965) A study of the possible preventive effect of muscular exercises and intermittent venous occlusion on the cardiovascular deconditioning observed after 10 days bed recumbency. Experimental design. NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (Contract NAS-9-1461)

www.cat-science.cat

191

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

David Cardús

Cardús D (1966) The heart rate response to exercise before and after bed recumbency. NASA Contract NAS 9-1461, Houston, TX Cardús D, Scott FB,Quesada EM (1966) Computer processing of data generated in micturition studies (preliminary report). Invest Urol 4:262-266 Scott FB, Quesada EM, Cardús D (1967) The use of combined uroflowmetry, cystometry, and electromyography in evaluation of neurogenic bladder dysfunction. In: Boyarsky (ed) The Neurogenic Bladder. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, MD Cardús D, Spencer WA (1967) Recovery time of heart frequency in healthy men: Its relationship to age and physical condition. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 48:71 Scott FB, Cardús D, Quesada EM, Riles T (1967) Uroflowmetry before and after prostatectomy. South Med J 60:948-952 Cardús D (1967) Computer processing of data generated by a bicycle ergometer test. J Sport Med Phys Fit 7:155-161 Cardús D (1967) Establishing a biomathematics program in a medical school. J Med Educ 42:1116-1121 Cardús D (1967) O2 alveolar-arterial tension difference after 10 days recumbency in man. J Appl Physiol 23:934-937 Spencer WA, Vallbona C, Levy AH, Cardús D (1967) Future of computers in medicine. Proceedings 7th Annual Biomedical Engineering Symposium. San Diego, CA Scott FB, Cardús D, Quesada EM (1967) A study of micturition in patients with cauda equina injury. Proc Annu Spinal Cord Inj Conf 16:141-145 McTaggart WG, Cardús D (1967) An analysis of errors in a technique for the combined use of multiple radioisotopes. Int J Appl Radiat Isot 20:429436 Cardús D, Ziegler RK (1967) Heart-beat frequency curves: A mathematical model. Comput Biomed Res 1:429-436 Quesada EM, Scott FB, Cardús D (1968) Functional classification of neurogenic bladder dysfunction. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 49:692-697 Cardús D (1968) Physical exercise and inactivity. Proceedings National College of Physical Education for Men Cardús D (1968) Un nou mètode per mesures respiratòries en l’home (A new method for respiratory studies in man). Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Spain Cardús D, McTaggart WG, Young CL (1969) The effect of exercise on determination of total body water by tritium oxide. J Appl Physiol 27:1-3 Cardús D (1969) Proprioceptive stimulus in the regulation of pulmonary ventilation in man. Cardiovasc Res Center Bull 8:23-32 Cardús D, Spencer WA, McTaggart VG (1969) A study of the gross composition of the body of patients with extensive muscular paralysis. Final Report. Social and Rehabilitation Service, Project RD 1871-M Cardús D, Newton L (1970) On-line computer processing of the pneumotachogram, and the O2 and CO2 concentrations of the respiratory gas. Proceedings 10th annual Biomedical Symposium Cardús D, Newton L (1970) Development of a computer technique for the online processing of respiratory variables. Comput Biol Med 1:125-131 McTaggart WG, Cardús D (1971) Tritium oxide movement in body water of healthy and paralytic men. In: Organic Scintillators and Liquid Scintillation Counting. Academic Press, New York, pp 621-634 Cardús D (1971) Computerized unit for the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 52:416-421 Cardús D (1972) Introducción a las matemáticas para médicos y biólogos (Introduction to Mathematics for Biomedical Investigators). Vicens-Vives, Barcelona, Spain Cardús D (1973) Comprehensive testing in ischemic heart disease. In: Zsywietz C, Schneider B (eds) Computer Application on EGG and VCG Analysis. North Holland, pp 551-559 Cardús D (1973) Towards a medicine based on the concept of health. Prev Med 2:309-312 Cardús D (1973) Implicacions mèdiques d’una nova aproximació al concepte de salut (Medical implications of a new approach to the concept of health). Annals de Medicina XX:507-537 Cardús D (1974) Energy expenditure on-the-job: An approach to its assessment. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 55:260-264

www.cat-science.cat

Thrall RM, Cardús D (1974) Benefit-cost and cost-effectiveness analysis in rehabilitation research programs. Methods Inf Med 13:147-151 Cardús D, Vera L (1974) Systolic time intervals at rest and during exercise. Cardiology 59:133-153 Claus-Walker J, Cardús D, Carter RE, Vallbona C (1974) Reappraisal of the metabolic and endocrine profile of subjects with cervical spinal cord transaction. Proc Int Congress Phy Med 2:753-757 Cardús D (1974) The impact of electronic data processing on medicine (Introductory remarks). Proc Int Congress Phys Med 2:213-214 Cardús D (1974) Quantitative evaluation of work tolerance with computer assistance. Proc Int Congress Phys Med 2:215-216

1975–1984 Cardús D, Fuentes F, Srinivasan R (1975) Cardiac evaluation of a physical rehabilitation program for patients with ischemic heart disease. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 56:419-425 Thrall RM, Cardús D (1975) Benefit-cost modeling in the presence of multiple decision criteria. In: Venedictov DO (ed) Health System Modeling and the Information System for the Coordination of Research in Oncology. Proceedings IIASA Biomedical Conference, pp 225-237 Cardús D, Thrall RM (1975) The concept of positive health and the planning of health care systems. In: Venedictov DO (ed) Health System Modeling and the Information System for the Coordination of Research in Oncology. Proceedings IIASA Biomedical Conference, pp 211-223 Cardús D (1976) La matemàtica i les ciències de la vida (Mathematics and the life sciences). Treballs Soc Cat Biol 33:135-144 Cardús D, Thrall RM (1977) Overview: Health and the planning of health care systems. Prev Med 6:134-142 Claus-Walker J, Cardús D, Griffith D, Halstead LS (1977) Metabolic effects of sodium restriction and thiazides in tetraplegic patients. Paraplegia 15:3-9 Cardús D (1978) Electronic processing of cardiac rehabilitation data. Med Inform 3:15-26 Cardús D (1978) Exercise testing: methods and uses. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 6:59-103 Cardús D (1978) A Hispanic Look at the Bicentennial (ed and contributor). Symposium on the Bicentennial sponsored by the Institute for Hispanic Culture of Houston. Houston, TX Fuhrer MJ, Cardús D, Rossi CD (1979) Judgements of the potential benefits of rehabilitation research. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 60:239-246 Jameson JP, Canzoneri J, Cardús D (1979) A prototype cardiotachometer histogram indicator. Automedica 3:1-6 Cardús D, Hammons C, Thrall RM (1979) Multiple objective benefit-cost modeling for decision makers. Decision Information. Academic Press, New York, pp 73-83 Cardús D, McTaggart WG, Ribas-Cardús F (1980) Exercise training in ischemic heart disease: Effects on physical performance and plasma lipids, ACTH and cortisol. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 61:303-310 Thrall RM, Cardús D, Fuhrer MJ (1981) Multicriterion decision analysis. In: Cobb L, Thrall R (eds) Mathematical Frontiers of the Social and Policy Sciences. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, pp 131-154 Cardús D, Vallbona C (1981) Computers and Mathematical Models jn Medicine (eds). [Medical sessions of the 1st Conference on Mathematics at the Service of Man. Barcelona, Spain, 1977.] Springer Verlag, New York Cardús D, Fuhrer MJ, Thrall RM (1981) Quality of life in benefit-cost analyses of rehabilitation research. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 62:200-212 Fuhrer MJ, Cardús D, Thrall RM (1981) Proposed rehabilitation research of demonstration projects: Estimating target population size. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 62:156-160 Cardús D, Fuhrer MJ, Martin AW, Thrall RM (1982) Use of benefit-cost analysis in the peer review of proposed research. Manage Sci 28:439-445 Cardús D, Rosenthal J (1982) The pressure-heart rate product. Its quantitative relation to physical work. Academia Latinoamericana de Rehabilitaci6n 4:18-26 Blocker WP, Cardús D (1983) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease (eds). Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY

192

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

PIQUERAS, GUERRERO

Loubser PG, Cardús D, Plckard LR, McTaggart WG (1988) Effects of unilateral, low-frequency, neuromuscular stimulation on superficial circulation in lower extremities of patients with peripheral vascular disease. Med Instrument 22:32-87 Cardús D (1988) Acerca de la hispanidad. Cuadernos de ALDEEU vol. IV (1):85-90 Cardús D, McTaggart WG, Ribas-Cardús F, Donovan WH (1989) Energy requirements of gamefield exercises designed for wheelchair-bound persons. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 70:124-127 Bunch D, Cardús D, Puhrier MJ, Thrall RM (1989) When are additive models valid for evaluating proposed research? Method Inform Med 28:168177 Cardús D, Linnarsson D, McTaggart WG, Tedner B (1990) Electric impedance measurements in body fluid shifts in simulated microgravity. Automedica 12:211-219 Cardús D, Diamandis P, McTaggart WG, Campbell S (1990) Development of an Artificial Gravity Sleeper (AGS). Physiologist 33(1):S112-S113 Cardús D, McTaggart WG, Campbell S (1991) Progress in the development of an Artificial Gravity Simulator (AGS). Physiologist 34(1):S224-S225 McTaggart WG, Cardús D (1992) Data acquisition system for the artificial gravity simulator (AGS). Physiologist 35(1):S119-S121 Cardús D, Cardús FR, McTaggart WG (1992) Coronary risk in spinal cord injury: assessment following a multivariate approach. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 73:930-933 Cardús D, Ribas-Cardús F, McTaggart WG (1992) Lipid profiles in spinal cord injury. Paraplegia 30:775-782 Cardús D (1992) Medicina i biologia: la informació i la vida (Medicine and biology: information and life). Rev Catalunya 67:11-26 Cardús D (1992) Gravitació i medicina (Gravitation and medicine) (Admission speech at the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia). Rev Reial Acad Med Catalunya 18:24-31 Cardús D (1992) La recerca cientíca i la pràctica mèdica (Scientific Research and Medical Practice). Bull Unió Catalana Hospitals, Barcelona 23:2729 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1993) Observations on the cardiovascular response to the AGS. The First International Design for Extreme Environments Assembly (IDEEA I). Final Conference Proceedings Report. University of Houston, Houston, TX, pp 742-745 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1993) The cardiovascular response to the AGS. Physiologist 36: S155-S157 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1994) Artificial gravity as a countermeasure of physiological deconditioning in space. Adv Space Res 14:409-414 Cardús D (1994): Artificial gravity in space and in medical research. J Gravitational Physiol 1:19-22 Cardús D, Jaweed M, Taggart WG (1995) Electrical impedance measurements in the arm and the leg during a thirty day bed rest study. J Gravitational Physiol 2:P70-71 Cardús D (1995) Artificial gravity research: A potential source of benefits in space and in Earth. AIAA, LS-58

Cardús D (1983) The natural history of ischemic heart disease. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 79-86 (chapter 7) Cardús D (1983) Exercise stress testing in ischemic heart disease. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 115-126 (chapter 11) Cardús D, Blocker WP (1983) Assessment of obesity in the cardiac patient. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 141-146 (chapter 14) Cardús D (1983) Implementing the exercise prescription. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 199-202 (chapter 24) Tjen LH, Cardús D (1983) Electrocardiographic monitoring during exercise. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 213-224 (chapter 27) Quiñones J, Cardús D (1983) Blood pressure response to submaximal exercise. In: Blocker WP, Cardús D (eds) Rehabilitation in Ischemic Heart Disease. Spectrum Publications, Jamaica, NY, pp 231-236 (chapter 29) Cardús D, Fuhrer MJ, Thrall RM (1983) Benefit-cost approach to the selection of medical research. In: Van Bemmel JH, Ball MJ, Wiggertz O (eds) Medinfo 83. North-Holland, pp 905-908 Blocker WP, Merrill JM, Krebs MA, Cardús D, Osterman HJ (1983) An electrocardiographic survey of patients with chronic spinal cord injury. Am Correct Ther J 37:101-104 Domingo E, Cardús E (1983) Apexcardiogram and ischemic heart disease. J Card Rehabil 3:771-774 Cardús D, McTaggarti WG (1984) Total body water and its distribution in men with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 65:509-512 Cardús D, McTaggart WG, Domingo E (1984) Cardiovascular changes with head-down ankle suspension. Physiologist 27:(suppl no. 6) S45-S46 1985–1995 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1985) Body composition in spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 66:257-259 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1985) Body sodium and potassium in men with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 66:156-159 Domingo E, Cardús D (1985) Simultaneous cardiovascular studies by electrical impedance. Automedica 6:193-208 Cardús D (1985) Acerca del envejecimiento cardiovascular (On the cardiovascular aging). Cuadernos de ALDEEU (Fronteras de Medicina) 2:1-4 Cardús D (1985) Consideraciones fisiológicas y psicológicas del vuelo espacial (Physiological and psychological considerations in space flight) XI Semana Astronáutica, Barcelona, Spain. Agrupación Astronáutica Española /Caixa de Barcelona, pp 38-41 Cardús D (ed) (1986) Emigración española en USA (Spanish emigration in the USA). Monografias de ALDEEU no. 2 Cardús D (1986) Emigraci6n y desarrollo científico (Emigration and scientific development). Monografías de ALDEEU 2:23-29 Domingo E, Cardús (1987) Exercise cardiac output by electrical impedance. Automedica 8:287-299 Cardús D (1987) Investigació mèdica a l’espai (Biomedical research in space). Rev Catalunya 13:106-112 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1988) Electric impedance measurements in quadriplegia. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 69:186-187 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1988) Body fluid shifts in spinal cord transection and simulated microgravity. Physiologist (suppl.) 31(1): S20-S21

www.cat-science.cat

1996– Cardús D (1996) Cardiovascular effects of a traditional -Gz force during relatively prolonged exposure J Gravit Phisiol 3:65-67 Cardús D, McTaggart WG (1997) Cardiovascular effects of a sustained -Gz force in the horizontal position. Aviat Space Environ Med 68:1099-1103

193

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 183-193

HISTORICAL CORNER CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 195-198 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.179 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Ramon Casanova (1892–1968) and the pulse jet engine Mercè Piqueras Catalan Society for the History of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Catalonia

IN OCTOBER 1944, RAMON CASANOVA DANÉS (1892–1968), who at the time was living in Barcelona, read an article in the British magazine The Illustrated London News about the V1 flying bombs that the German army had been using to attack London since June 13th of that same year. One of the bombs had failed to explode, allowing its mechanism to be examined. Casanova, who in 1917 had patented a pulse jet engine, was surprised to realize that the pulse jet engine that powered the V1 was very similar to his own invention. Two years before, in 1942, he had worked for the French state-owned aircraft company Societé nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (SNCAM), in Toulouse. Although he had presented his

invention to his French colleagues and shown them documents related to it, he was unable to arouse their interest. But in 1944, after reading the magazine article, he became convinced that his invention, which he never imagined could be applied for the purposes of war, had inspired the construction of the German flying bombs. But, who was this man, Ramon Casanova?

Formative years Ramon Casanova was born in Campdevànol, a Catalan village in the Pyrenees, in 1892. At the time, small villages had only primary schools, if any, such that for his further education he was sent to Blanes—by then a small city on the coast near Girona, and today a famous seaside resort on the Costa Brava. There he studied in a boarding school of the Marist

Fig. 1. Premises of La Hispano-Suiza in Ripoll (named Comforsa since 1987). www.cat-science.cat

195

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 195-198

Ramon Casanova (1892–1968)

Fig. 2. Pulse jet invented by Ramon Casanova.

Casanova, inventor of the pulse jet engine

Brothers. In 1908, he started working at his family business, the metallurgic company La Farga (the “Foundry”) Casanova, which consisted of a small foundry. Some authors have described Casanova as an engineer, but he never received formal university training; rather, he acquired his engineering skills on the job, performing the various tasks carried out by other workmen at the forgery. He also read technical books, journals and magazines and took advantage of the knowledge accumulated during business trips to Barcelona, France, and the United Kingdom (UK). Casanova’s innovative ideas and inventions—most of them related to founding and to the emerging automobile and aviation industries—were extraordinary, considering his lack of formal training and that he lived in a small village, far from the technological sophistication of large cities. He was still in his twenties when he invented an engine to fly without propellers. With his restless intelligence he constantly searched for solutions not only for industrial applications but even for use in the home; for example, the can opener he patented in 1943 became popular in Spain a few decades later. While working for his family’s company, he introduced a metal stamping technology that made La Farga the first metallurgic company to produce stainless steel in Catalonia. For several years, La Farga was associated with Hispano-Suiza, a Spanish automotive and engineering firm based in Barcelona that produced luxury cars and airplane engines (Fig. 1). In the 1910s, La Farga moved its forgery section to Ripoll, a busy and historical city near Campdevànol. Surely it was during that period that Casanova became fascinated with car and airplane engines. www.cat-science.cat

In addition to his passion for reading to learn, Casanova liked to experiment. When, in 1917, he patented his estatoreactor (the pulse jet engine) he had already tested it at La Farga. He observed that the piston engine, which worked very well in cars, would not be effective for aircrafts. He thus began working to produce combustion in a cylinder, harnessing the expanding gases as the driving force to form a pulsating exhaust jet that would produce thrust intermittently. The cylinder in which the explosion took place was in fact a pulse jet. In 1915, he built the first engine, suspending it from the roof of the factory during testing to assess the pulse jet’s power. After confirming in the factory that the engine worked, he was eager to test it under real-life conditions. To do so, Casanova installed the engine in his cyclecar, which he had also invented. The cyclecar allowed him to drive down steep slopes at full speed on roads with many curves. With the pulse jet engine mounted on the car he tried to produce, with the initial boost, the speed necessary to start the reactor (Fig. 2). However his attempts failed and the pulse jet did not work. He then decided to carry out another test: the pulse jet engine would be placed in a freight wagon that would be driven by a train. But he was unable to procure the financing to carry out the experiment and was forced to abandon the project. Nonetheless Casanova recognized the need to patent his invention. The patent was “for the invention of explosion engines for all types of vehicles” (Fig. 3). He also published two articles, illustrated with drawings of the engine, in two 196

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 195-198

PIQUERAS

Fig. 3. Spanish patent (September18, 1917) of the pulse jet engine invented by Ramon Casanova.

Fig. 4. Part of the page of La Veu de Catalunya (June 20, 1919), showing the engine draw. Note that the article was included in the sports section.

Catalan newspapers: La Veu de Catalunya (June 20, 1919) (Fig. 4), and La Publicitat (June 9, 1928).

Among his literary influences were the Catalan poets Joan Maragall, Jacint Verdaguer, and Josep Carner. He wrote about scientists, including Pasteur, Einstein, Fleming, Rostaing, and Lorenz, but also about Marx and Gandhi. In 1942, he wrote: “If things that are the closest to us are those that we know the least, why do we lack knowledge of the stars? […] Things closer to us are more or less achieved, possessed, which means, known to us. Distant things, the more distant they are, the more attractive and preferred objects of effort and comprehension.” In 1936, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia) sent Casanova, along with a consultant from the Central Board of the Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España (a railway company founded in 1858 that later, in 1941, would be nationalized and integrated into RENFE, the Spanish state-owned rail transport company), to the UK, with the aim of buying machinery for the metallurgic industry. But they were prohibited by the British authorities from entering the country on the grounds that the UK had adopted the position of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Casanova had always been a Catalan patriot. He was against Franco’s coup d’état that led to the Spanish Civil War, and against Franco’s army, which occupied Barcelona in January 27, 1939, and won the war in April 1, 1939. The possibility of staying in a more advanced European country must have contributed to Casanova’s decision not to return to Catalonia, at least temporarily. During the Civil

A rich intellectual life Apart from his interest in technology, Casanova was an intellectual who spoke French, English and Italian. His life was a paradigm of the cultural pursuits of his times. His father was passionate about music, while one of his sisters was a poet and another was a painter. Beginning in 1912, he contributed articles to newspapers and magazines. He also compiled several of his articles and notes, which later he gathered under the title Motions and Emotions. In 1918, he wrote a contribution for a conference of employer’s organizations, but he refused to present it because he was requested to write it in Spanish instead of Catalan. Two years later he published it as a pamphlet titled L’hora patronal (The employer’s time). Its topics were a constant theme throughout his life: the value of personal effort, the need for social justice, and the rejection of revolution as a means to achieve social improvements. However, over the course of his life, his vision of society and the role of employers changed. He lost confidence in their organizations as the driving force of social change and sympathized with the ideas of socialism. He wrote about the need for equal rights, including for women. He understood the importance of education and sport and set up both a library and a soccer field for his workers. www.cat-science.cat

197

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 195-198

Ramon Casanova (1892–1968)

a small circle of friends, because of the repression of Franco’s regime, especially regarding Catalan culture. He died in Barcelona in 1968.

Late recognition... by NASA Ramon Casanova was a maverick, but neither the villagers in Campdevànol and Ripoll, who used to call him “el boig de l’Hispano” (Hispano’s fool, referring to the Hispano-Suiza car factory), nor the press, which made fun of him, understood the scope of his inventions. His talent was finally recognized when NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. in Huntsville, Alabama (where most of the German rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun [1912–1977], were initially secluded) honored him with a display of his engine and a brief biography highlighting his brilliant career and ingenuity (Fig. 5). A replica of Casanova’s pulse jet engine is also on display at the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia in Terrassa, an industrial city near Barcelona. It was donated by his widow, along with relevant documents related to the invention. Although several homages have been paid to Ramon Casanova and numerous articles have been written about him, he still awaits the recognition and appreciation that he deserves from his country and from his compatriots, Catalonia and the Catalans.

Fig. 5. A reproduction of a V1 rocket, the first intercontinental missile, shown in the NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. Situated in what was then rural Alabama, Huntsville became home to the Operation Paperclip rocket scientists, mostly Germans, following World War II. NASA’s Marshall Center has a space devoted to the pioneer work of Ramon Casanova. (© Michael Malone)

War, La Farga had been collectivized by its workers, and even though he was informed that the employees’ committee had appointed him “director” of the factory, he refused to return. Instead, he went first to Tuchan, in Roussillon, southern France, where his in-laws lived, and later to Toulouse, where he worked at the aircraft factory SNCAM. However, when the Nazis finally occupied the south of France, in November 1942, Casanova chose to return to Catalonia. La Farga had in the meantime been taken over by the Spanish Ministry of Industry of Franco’s Government and then sold to a private company. Nevertheless, Casanova’s brother Josep Maria had started to re-establish the family business, under the slightly different name of Farga Casanova S.A., which soon again became a thriving metallurgic company. In 1943, Casanova finally settled in Barcelona, where a section of Farga Casanova S.A. had been set up in one of the city’s industrial quarters, Poble Nou. He continued to develop innovative ideas related to the company. His intellectual activities, however, could be shared only with his family and

www.cat-science.cat

Bibliography 1. 2.

3. 4.

198

Cardona O (1985) Ramon Casanova i Danés, un home avançat. Annals del Centre d’Estudis del Ripollès (December, 1985) 9:15-19 (In Catalan) Bertran, A, Camps O, Canelles J, Casanova J, Crivillé F, Mates A, Piella PJ, Pulido M, Vilardell R (2013) Ramon Casanova i Danés – 1892/1968 “El boig de l’Hispano”. City Council of Ripoll (on the occasion of an exhibition devoted to Casanova), 65 pp (In Catalan, with English translation) Jiménez A (2005) La Farga Casanova. Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Gironins 46:285-342 (In Catalan) Willhite IP (2001) The British Interplanetary Society – Val Cleaver and Wernher von Braun. J Brit Inter Soc 54:291-299

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 195-198

NEWS AND VIEWS CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 199-200 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.180 ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Activities of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands Macià Tomàs Salvà President of of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands mtomas@dgfun.caib.es

THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE is the oldest scientific instituOver the years the Academy has carried out these aims by tion of the Balearic Islands. It was founded in 1831 on the the hosting scientific discussions and by acting as a source of inforinitiative of the physician Pere Castelló as the Real Academia mation on advances and new developments related to medide Medicina y Cirugía de Palma de Mallorca (Royal Academy of cine and surgery. Over the last 180 years, many of the most Medicine and Surgery of Palma de Mallorca), under the aus- prestigious health science professionals of the Balearic Islands pices of King Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784–1833). However, have held positions within the Academy, either as full members its history can be traced back even or as corresponding members. Past ilfurther, to the Academia Médico lustrious members include Mateu J.B. Práctica de Mallorca, founded in Orfila (1787–1853), recognized world1788. Like most academies wide as the father of toxicology and fothroughout Europe, that first Acadrensic medicine; Fernando Weyler emy provided a framework where Laviña (1808–1879), physician and new hypotheses were presented and writer; Bernat Riera Alemany (1874– discussed. In addition, it served to 1926), a military physician, and Emili distinguish between surgeons and Darder Cànaves (1895–1937), a physithe more highly respected physician who was also mayor of Palma de cians. For the latter, the academies Mallorca and was executed by Franco’s provided a means to ensure their exarmy during the Spanish civil war clusive privilege to issue prescrip(1936–1939). tions, protected within the intellecThe Academy is an associate acadtual aura of academic activities. Inemy of the Institute of Spain (Instituto deed, one of the petitions addressed de España), which is located in Maby physicians to the king on the ocdrid and gathers academies from all casion of the Academy’s foundation over Spain. The associate academy was to restrict pharmacies to filling category is granted only to the “acadonly those prescriptions issued by emies of well known antiquity, fruitFig. 1. September–December 2013 issue of Medicina members of the Academy. ful, rich history, continuous activities In 1999, the name of the Acade- Balear, the oﬃcial journal of the Reial Acadèmia de in favor of academic purposes, and Medicina de les Illes Balears, published quarterly. my was changed to the Reial having achieved development of their Acadèmia de Medicina de les Illes Baleacademic mission.” In 1994, the ars (Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands). As Academy was transferred from the Spanish Ministry of Eduits name indicates, it serves all of the Balearic Islands. The cation and Science to the Ministry (Conselleria) of Culture, aims of the Academy are: (a) to promote knowledge of the Education and Sports of the Autonomous Government of the health sciences, especially among physicians but also among Balearic Islands, although the Ministry of Health and Conthe general public; (b) to implement biomedical advances sumer Affairs of the central Government in Madrid has played within society; and (c) to advise the Government of the Bale- a decisive role in its maintenance. In 2013, the Academy was aric Islands on the prevention, maintenance and improve- assigned to the Vice Presidency and Ministry of the Presidenment of public health. cy of the Autonomous Government of the Balearic Islands.

www.cat-science.cat

199

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 199-200

Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands

The purpose was to guarantee the institutional support necessary to promote the stability, independence and reputation of the Academy as an entity generating knowledge and its application to society. It also ensured support for research training and for outreach activities developed by the Academy. The Academy has a historical archive of great value, which continues to grow through the acquisitions of documents of historical medical interest. In addition, every year the Academy awards several prizes for research in the health sciences. Since 1986, it has published the scientific journal Medicina Balear, which is released quarterly (Fig. 1) and has

www.cat-science.cat

recently been incorporated within the Digital Library and journal repository of the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). In 2013, the Academy signed agreements with the UIB, the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC, located in Barcelona) and the Balearic Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Units. Throughout the academic year, the Academy organizes scientific sessions and lectures, round tables, and book presentations aimed at contributing to public knowledge of important health science, at global improvement in the training of health professionals and at the transfer of knowledge to society.

200

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 199-200

INDEXES VOLUMES 4, 5, 6 CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

Contents volumes 4, 5, 6 (2008, 2009, 2010) Abad MF → Financial aspects of open access journals, 5: 107 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.66 Abad Morejón de Girón FX → Reflections on biosafety: do we really know what biosafety, biocontainment, and biosecurity mean?, 6: 99 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.87 Aguilella VM → The ionic selectivity of large protein ion channels, 4: 11 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.31 Aguiló M → Carvajal JJ Agulló J → Professor Enric Ras i Oliva (1915–2007), 6: 121 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.90 Agulló-Galilea D → Gaudí and the enigma of the modernist architectural ensemble in the gardens of the former Sant Boi Mental Hospìtal, 6: 41 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.82 Alarcón A → Guix M Alcaraz A → Aguilella VM Alcubilla R → Centre for Research in NanoEngineering (CRnE-UPC), 4: 253 Alegret S → Arguimbau L, Pividori MI Alegret S → Preface, 6: 131 Alonso N→ Voltas J Araus JL → Voltas J Arguimbau L→ Chemical research in the Catalan Countries: a brief quantitative assessment of the agents, resources, and results, 6: 215 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.98 Arguimbau L → The MERIDIÀ web portal: the study and dissemination of Catalan science, 6: 75 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.85 Barbé-Farré D → The therapeutical garden: Gaudí and the patients of the former Sant Boi Mental Hospital, 6: 49 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.83 Barceló D → Mastroianni N, Sabater S Bas C → The Mediterranean: a synoptic overview, 5: 25 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.57 Bastus N → Casals E Benito AM → Maser WK Berlanga M → Guerrero R Borrull F → Fontanals N Campàs M → Marine biotoxins in the Catalan litoral: could biosensors be integrated into monitoring programmes? → 4: 43 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.34 Carbonell C → Guix M Carda-Broch S → Esteve-Romero J

www.cat-science.cat

Carvajal JJ → Production and characterization of nanostructured materials for optical applications at Rovira i Virgili University, 4: 157 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.46 Casals E → Guix M Casals E → Inorganic nanoparticles and biology, 4: 171 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.47 Casanova I → Alcubilla R Castro JA → Ramon M Cavazza M → Laura Bassi and Giuseppe Veratti: an electric couple during the Enlightenment, 5: 115 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.67 Cervera A → Arguimbau L Cetto AM → The nuclear energy of the future, 5: 77 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.62 Comella JX → Segura MF Comenge J → Casals E, Guix M Corrales Rodrigáñez C → The use of mathematics to read the book of nature. About Kepler and snowflakes, 6: 27 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.80 Cortés V → Vila J Custodio E→ Estimation of aquifer recharge by means of atmospheric chloride deposition balance in the soil, 6: 81 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.86 da Costa MS → Empadinhas N de la Iglesia P → Campàs M Díaz F → Carvajal JJ Díez E → Darwin in the press: What the Spanish dailies said about the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, 5: 193 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.75 Diogène J → Campàs M Domingo Álvarez M → Abad Morejón de Girón FX Domingo E → Quasispecies: from molecular Darwinism to viral diseases, 5: 161 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.71 Domínguez M → Díez E Echavarren AM → Pérez-Galán P Empadinhas N → Diversity, distribution and biosynthesis of compatible solutes in prokaryotes, 5: 95 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.65 Escobedo J → Mercantile arithmetic and the incunable Catalan printing. Suma de la art de arismètica, by Francesc Santcliment (1482), 6: 59 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.84

201

Esteve-Romero J → Micellar liquid cromatography in bioanalytical chemistry, 6: 105 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.88 Feliu JM → Surface electrochemistry and reactivity, 6: 161 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.94 Fernández-Tejedor M → Campàs M Ferré-Borrull J → Vojkuvka L Ferrer-Anglada N → Pérez-Puigdemont J Ferrer-Anglada N → Preface, 4: 139 Ferrio JP → Voltas J Figueras A → The creation of a new Institute of Research on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CIN2, CSIC-ICN), 4: 243 Font Cierco J → The impact of chemistry in Catalonia’s industrial development during the 20th century, 6: 243 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.101 Fontanals N → Overview of the novel sorbents available in solid-phase extraction to improve the capacity and selectivity of analytical determinations, 6: 199 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.97 Fontbona F → “Catalonia and the Sciences,” sculptoric group by Josep Llimona at the Institute for Catalan Studies, 6: 35 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.81 Fortey R → Charles Darwin: The scientist as an hero, 5: 183 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.74 Fraxedas J → Verdaguer A García-Fernández L → Guix M Garfield E → The evolution of the Science Citation Index, 5: 63 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.60 Giménez G → Campàs M Giner S → Foreword, 5: 9 Giner S → Social Darwinism, 5: 199 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.76 Glashow SL → Beyond Darwin: from the elements of the Universe, 5: 133 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.68 Glashow SL → The errors and animadversions of Honest Isaac Newton, 4: 105 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.42 Guerrero R → The evolution of microbial life: paradigm changes in microbiology, 5: 55 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.59 Guinovart JJ → Foreword, 6: 1 Guix M → Nanoparticles for cosmetics. How safe is safe?, 4: 213 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.52

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

volumes 4, 5, 6

Herrero E → Feliu JM Hoffmann R → More about Mme. Lavoisier than M. Lavoisier, 4: 111 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.43 Hogan D → Why are bacteria refractory to antimicrobials?, 5: 85 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.63 IEC → A brief look at some of the activities planned for the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) in Catalonia, 6: 249 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.102 Jordi C → Puig R Jordi C → The European Space Agency Gaia misión: exploring the Galaxy, 6: 11 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.78 Kaempgen M → Pérez-Puigdemont J Kessler E → Communicating science: the role of Academies, 4: 93 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.40 Kolter R → Hogan D Labarta A → Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the University of Barcelona (IN2UB), 4: 249 Lalueza-Fox C → The Neanderthal Genome project and beyond, 5: 169 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.72 Latorre R → Arguimbau L Llebot JE → Foreword, 5: 131 López de Alda M → Mastroianni N López-Carrillo V → Pérez-Galán P Lora-Tamayo E → Barcelona Nanotechnology Cluster Bellaterra (BCN-b), 4: 231 Luque FJ → Orozco M Marcé RM → Fontanals N Marsal LF → Vojkuvka L Martí M → Arguimbau L Martínez E → Vila J Martínez MT → Maser WK Marty J-L → Campàs M Maser WK → Electroactive polymer-carbon nanotube composites: smart organic materials for optoelectronic applications, 4: 187 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.49 Mastroianni N →Emerging organic contaminants in aquatic environments: state-of-theart and recent scientific contributions, 6: 193 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.96 Mateu A → Díez E Mira J → Can two languages coexist within the same community of speakers?, 6: 21 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.79 Mugarza A → Verdaguer A Nadal M → Deficit irrigation and rootstock effects on water stress, growth, and grape composition in a Mediterranean climate, 6: 115 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.89 Nash M → Challenging subordination: the woman’s movements, 4: 75 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.38 www.cat-science.cat

Núñez-Centella R → On how science becomes cultura: the case of Corunna, 4: 61 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.36 Obradors X → Nanoscience and nanotechnology at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), 4: 239 Oncins G → Torrent-Burgués J Orozco M → The impact of theoretical chemistry on biology, 6: 133 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.91 Pallarés J → Vojkuvka L Paredes Á → Mira J Pascual J → Figueras A Pérez Oliva M → Implications of the theory of evolution in an information society, 5: 177 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.73 Pérez-Galán P → The Principles of Gold-Catalyzed Molecular Gymnastics, 6: 143 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.92 Pérez-Puigdemont J → Transparent, flexible electrodes and sensors based on carbon nanotube thin films, 4: 193 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.50 Pericàs MA → The Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), 6: 233 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.99 Picornell A → Ramon M Piqueras M → Emma Darwin: a great woman behind a great man, 5: 17 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.56 Pividori MI → Electrochemical biosensors for food safety, 6: 173 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.95 Podobinski J → Vila J Puig R → Professor Maria Assumpció Català Poch (1925–2009), 5: 203 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.77 Puig-Pla C → Narcís Monturiol (1819–1885), pioneer of submarine navigation, 5: 147 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.70 Puntes V → Casals E Rambla-Alegre M → Esteve-Romero J Ramon M → Human population of the Balearic Island: the case of Chuetas and Ibizans, 4: 85 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.39 Redi CA → The problems of biosciences in contemporary society, 4: 97 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.41 Reguant S → Geology as a “local” science, 5: 41 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.58 Rius M → Science in Western Islam. Circulation of knowledge in the Mediterranean, 5: 141 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.69 Roca-Rosell A → Puig-Pla C Ron EZ → Microbiological sciences: a European perspective, 5: 71 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.61 Roth Siegmar → Pérez-Puigdemont J Sabater S → The Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), 6: 237 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.100 Sainz R → Maser WK Salvadó I → MATGAS: a center of excellence 202

on CO2, 4: 237 Samitier J → The Nanobioengineering Research Laboratory, 4: 247 Sanz F → Torrent-Burgués J Sapiña F → Vila J Segura MF → Relevance of death receptors in nervous system: role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and targets for therapy, 4: 33 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.33 Seoane LF → Mira J Serra F → Microelectronics Institute of Barcelona — National Centre for Microelectronics (IBM-CNM, CSIC), 4: 233 Serra L → Spin-orbit coupling and the electronic properties of quantum wires, 4: 203 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.51 Serra Ramoneda A → The contribution of the social sciences to knowledge, 4: 55 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.35 Serrat D → Foreword, 4: 9 Solanes Foz D → Abad Morejón de Girón FX Soria B → Biomedical research in Spain: the patient’s point of view, 5: 91 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.64 Terrés B → Pérez-Puigdemont J Testa J → The Thomson Scientific journal selection process, 4: 69 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.37 Tickell C → The theory of evolution: 150 years afterwards, 5: 11 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.55 Torner L → The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), 4: 257 Torrent-Burgués J → Nanomechanics of Langmuir-Blodgett films, 4: 177 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.48 Trifonov T → Vojkuvka L Varon M → Casals E Vázquez S → Casals E Verdaguer A → Water on surfaces studied by scanning probe microscopies, 4: 141 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.45 Vernet JM → Nadal M Vigo J → Presentation to the Celebration of Darwin Year 2009, 5: 159 Vigo J → Professor Oriol de Bolòs i Capdevila (Olot 1924–Barcelona 2007), 4: 115 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.44 Vila J → Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured Co1-xNixMoO4 catalysts active in the ODH of propane, 4: 223 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.54 Vojkuvka L → Fabrication of self-ordered nanoporous alumina for optical and structural characterization, 4: 219 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.53 Voltas J → Stable carbon isotopes in archaeobotanical remains and palaeoclimate, 4: 21 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.32 Yus M → Discovering new arene-catalyzed lithiations, 6: 155 doi:10.2436/20.7010.01.93 CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

volumes 4, 5, 6

Authors Index · volumes 4, 5, 6 Abad MF → 5: 107 Abad Morejón de Girón FX → 6: 99 Aguilella M → 4: 11 Aguiló M → 4: 157 Agulló J → 6: 121 Agulló-Galilea D → 6: 41 Alarcón A → 4: 213 Alcaraz A → 4: 11 Alcubilla R → 4: 253 Alegret S → 6: 131, 6: 173, 215 Alonso N → 4: 21 Araus JL → 4: 21 Arguimbau L → 6: 75, 215 Barbé-Farré D → 6: 49 Barceló D → 6: 193, 237 Bas C → 5: 25 Bastus N → 4: 171 Benito AM → 4: 187 Berlanga M → 5: 55 Borrull F → 6: 199 Campàs M → 4: 43 Carbonell C → 4: 213 Carda-Broch S → 6: 105 Carvajal JJ → 4: 157 Casals E → 4: 171, 213 Casanova I → 4: 253 Castro JA → 4: 85 Cavazza M → 5: 115 Cervera A → 6: 75 Cetto AM → 5: 77 Comella JX → 4: 33 Comenge J → 4: 171, 213 Corrales Rodrigáñez C → 6: 27 Cortés V → 4: 223 Custodio E → 6: 81 da Costa MS → 5: 95 de la Iglesia P → 4: 43 Díaz F → 4: 157 Díez E → 5: 193 Diogène J → 4: 43 Domingo Álvarez M → 6: 99 Domingo E → 5: 161 Domínguez M → 5: 193 Echavarren AM → 6: 143 Empadinhas N → 5: 95 Escobedo J → 6: 59 Esteve-Romero J → 6: 105 Feliu JM → 6: 161 Fernández-Tejedor M → 4: 43 Ferré-Borrull J → 4: 219 Ferrer-Anglada N → 4: 139, 193 Ferrio JP → 4: 21 Figueras A → 4: 243 Font Cierco J → 6: 243 Fontanals N → 6: 199 Fontbona F → 6: 35 Fortey R → 5: 183 Fraxedas J → 4: 141

www.cat-science.cat

García-Fernández L → 4: 213 Garfield E → 5: 63 Giménez G → 4: 43 Giner S → 5: 9, 199 Glashow SL → 4: 105, 5: 133 Guerrero R → 5: 55 Guinovart JJ → 6: 1 Guix M → 4: 213 Herrero E → 6: 161 Hoffmann R → 4: 111 Hogan D → 5: 85 IEC → 6: 249 Jordi C → 5: 203, 6: 11 Kaempgen M → 4: 193 Kessler E → 4: 93 Kolter R → 5: 85 Labarta A → 4: 249 Lalueza-Fox C → 5: 169 Latorre R → 6: 75 Llebot JE → 5: 131 López de Alda M → 6: 193 López-Carrillo V → 6: 143 Lora-Tamayo E → 4: 231 Luque FJ → 6: 133 Marcé RM → 6: 199 Marsal LF → 4: 219 Martí M → 6: 75 Martínez E → 4: 223 Martínez MT → 4: 187 Marty J-L → 4: 43 Maser WK → 4: 187 Mastroianni N → 6: 193 Mateu A → 5: 193 Mira J → 6: 21 Mugarza A → 4: 141 Nadal M → 6: 115 Nash M → 4: 75 Núñez-Centella R → 4: 61 Obradors X → 4: 239 Oncins G → 4: 177 Orozco M → 6: 133

Podobinski J → 4: 223 Puig R → 5: 203 Puig-Pla C → 5: 147 Puntes V → 4: 171 Rambla-Alegre M → 6: 105 Ramon M → 4: 85 Redi CA → 4: 97 Reguant S → 5: 41 Rius M → 5: 141 Roca Rosell A → 5: 147 Ron EZ → 5: 71 Roth → 4: 193 Sabater S → 6: 237 Sainz R → 4: 187 Salvadó I → 4: 237 Samitier J → 4: 247 Sanz F → 4: 177 Sapiña F → 4: 223 Segura MF → 4: 33 Seoane LF → 6: 21 Serra F → 4: 233 Serra L → 4: 203 Serra Ramoneda A → 4: 55 Serrat D → 4: 9 Solanes Foz D → 6: 99 Soria B → 5: 91 Terrés B → 4: 193 Testa J → 4: 69 Tickell C → 5: 11 Torner L → 4: 257 Torrent-Burgués J → 4: 177 Trifonov T → 4: 219 Varon M → 4: 171 Vázquez S → 4: 171 Vega LF → 4: 237 Verdaguer A → 4: 141 Vernet JM → 6: 115 Vigo J → 4: 115, 5: 159 Vila J → 4: 223 Vojkuvka L→ 4: 219 Voltas J → 4: 21 Yus M → 6: 155

Pallarés J → 4: 219 Paredes Á → 6: 21 Pascual J → 4: 243 Pérez Oliva M → 5: 177 Pérez-Galán P → 6: 143 Pérez-Puigdemont J → 4: 193 Pericàs MA → 6: 233 Picornell A → 4: 85 Piqueras M → 5: 17 Pividori MI → 6: 173

203

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

volumes 4, 5, 6

Keywords Index · volumes 4, 5, 6 Al-Andalus → 5: 141 Adatom adsorption → 6: 161 Allergens → 6: 173 Analytical determination → 6: 199 Anion adsorption → 6: 161 Anodization → 4: 219 Antibiotic resistance → 5: 85 Antibiotics → 6: 173 Antoni Gaudí → 6: 41, 49 Apoptosis → 4: 33 Aquifers → 6: 81 Arab astronomy → 5: 141 Archaeology → 4: 21 Astrometry → 6: 11 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) → 4: 141, 177 Bacterial porins → 4: 11 Bacterial structure → 5: 55 Balearic Islands → 6: 215 Bibliometrics → 5: 63 Bicyclic ethers → 6: 155 Bilingualism → 6: 21 Bioavailability → 6: 193 Biocontainment → 6: 99 Biodistribution → 4: 171, 213 Biofilms → 5: 55, 85 Bioinformatics → 6: 133 Biological evolution → 5: 161 Biological membrane → 4: 11 Biomedicine → 5: 177 Biosafety → 6: 99 Biosecurity → 6: 99 Biosensor → 4: 43 Biosynthetic pathways → 5: 95 Brewster angle microscopy → 4: 177 Burgess Shale fauna → 5: 183 Cambrian evolutionary explosion → 5: 183 Canary Islands → 6: 81 Cancer → 5: 91 Capacity → 6: 199 Carbocyclization → 6: 155 Carbon nanotubes → 4: 187, 193 Catalan scientific incunabula → 6: 59 Catalonia → 6: 81, 215 Catalonia and the sciences → 6: 35 Charge displacement → 6: 161 Charles Darwin → 5: 11, 17, 133, 177, 183, 193, 199 Charred grains → 4: 21 Chemical elements → 5: 133 Chemistry → 6: 215 Chloride balance → 6: 81 Chronostratigraphy → 5: 41 Circulation of knowledge → 5: 141 Compatible solutes → 5: 95 Computational biology → 6: 133 Computational chemistry → 6: 133 Conductance → 4: 203 Conjugated polymers → 4: 187 Converging technologies → 6: 173 Crystal structure → 4: 157 Cyclizations → 6: 143

www.cat-science.cat

Darwin’s “improvements” → 5: 183 Darwin’s Autobiography → 5: 17 Death receptors → 4: 33 Degradation products → 6: 193 Deprotection → 6: 155 Development → 6: 75 DNA biosensors → 6: 173 Discovery of electricity → 5: 115 Economy models of publication → 5: 107 Effective mass theory → 4: 203 Electrodiffusion → 4: 11 Electronic states → 4: 203 Emergence of antibiotics resistance → 5: 71 Emerging contaminants → 6: 193 Emma Wedgwood (Emma Darwin) → 5: 17 Engineering in Catalonia in the 19th century → 5: 147 Enlightenment → 5: 115 Environmental monitoring → 6: 193 Enynes → 6: 143 European mercantile arithmetic in the 15th century → 6: 59 European microbiology → 5: 71 Evolution → 5: 11, 133 Evolutionism → 5: 199 FAIM → 4: 33 FEMS → 5: 71 Flexible sensors → 4: 193 Food residues → 6: 173 Force spectroscopy → 4: 177 Fossil record → 5: 183 Francesc Santcliment → 6: 59 Freeze-drying → 4: 223 Gaia → 5: 11 Galaxy → 6: 11 Gene horizontal transfer → 5: 85 Geometry → 6: 27 Gerona Beatus → 6: 41 Giuseppe Veratti → 5: 115 Gold → 6: 143 Gold nanoparticles → 6: 173 Golden road → 5: 107 Grape composition → 6: 115 Graphite microparticles → 6: 173 GSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) → 5: 41 Guidelines → 6: 99 Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) → 4: 43 History of life →5: 183 History of science → 5: 115, 133, 141 History of the Earth → 5: 41 Human evolution → 5: 169 Human impact on Earth → 5: 11 Human impact on fisheries → 5: 25 Hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions at molecular level → 4: 141 Hyperboloids → 6: 41 IAEA (Vienna) → 5: 77 Ictineu → 5: 147 Immunosensors → 6: 173 204

Impact Factor → 5: 63 Information science → 6: 75 Information society → 5: 177 Innovation → 6: 75 Interlinguistic distance → 6: 21 Ion channel → 4: 11 Ionic selectivity → 4: 11 Irrigation → 6: 115 Islam → 5: 141 Johannes Kepler → 6: 27 Josep Llimona → 6: 35 Josep Puig i Cadafalch → 6: 35 Kepler’s Conjecture → 6: 27 Langmuir monolayer → 4: 177 Langmuir-Blogdett film → 4: 177 Late Holocene → 4: 21 Lateral force microscopy → 4: 177 Laura Bassi → 5: 115 Lethal mutagenesis → 5: 161 Library of Catalonia→ 6: 35 Lifeguard → 4: 33 Linguistic competition → 6: 21 Lithiation → 6: 155 Magnetic beads → 6: 173 Marine ecosystems → 5: 25 Marine toxin → 4: 43 Media → 5: 177 Mediterranean → 5: 25 MERIDIÀ portal → 6: 75 Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) → 6: 105 Microbial diversity and activity → 5: 55 Mixed cobalt-nickel molybdates → 4: 223 MLC applications in bioanalytical chemistry → 6: 105 Modeling and optimization strategies in MLC → 6: 105 Modernism → 6: 49 Monitoring programme → 4: 43 Multilayers → 6: 161 Nanocomposite materials → 4: 187 Nanoparticles → 4: 171, 213 Nanoporous alumina → 4: 219 Nanostructures → 4: 157 Narcís Monturiol → 5: 147 Neanderthal → 5: 169 Neurons → 4: 33 Nickel nanoparticles → 6: 155 Noucentisme → 6: 35 Nuclear energy → 5: 77 NW Mediterranean → 4: 21 Observatory → 6: 75 Occupational therapy → 6: 49 Okadaic acid → 4: 43 On the origin of species → 5: 11, 17 Open access journals → 5: 107 Optical materials → 4: 157 Organolithium compounds → 6: 155

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

volumes 4, 5, 6

Osmoadaptation → 5: 95 Osmoregulation → 5: 95 Oxidative dehydrogenation → 4: 223 Paleogenomics → 5: 169 Pathogenic bacteria → 6: 173 Peaceful use of atomic energy → 5: 77 Pesticides → 6: 173 Platinum single crystals → 6: 161 Potential of zero total charge → 6: 161 Practical arithmetic in the 15th century → 6: 59 Precipitation → 4: 21 Programmed cell death → 5: 55 Prokaryotic evolution → 5: 95 Propane → 4: 223 Propene → 4: 223 Quantum wires → 4: 203 Quasispecies → 5: 161 Quasispecies dynamics → 5: 161 R&D&I → 6: 75 Rashba interaction → 4: 203 Rearrangements → 6: 143 Recharge → 6: 81 Regenerative medicine → 5: 91 Research → 6: 75, 215 Research in biomedicine → 5: 91 RNA viruses → 5: 161 Rootstock → 6: 115

Sant Boi Mental Hospital → 6: 49 Sant Joan de Deu Health Care Complex in Sant Boi de Llobregat → 6: 41 Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) → 4: 141 Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) → 4: 141 Science Citation Index → 5: 63 Science vs. creationism → 5: 193 Scientific documentation → 6: 75 Scientific news coverage → 5: 193 Sea productivity → 5: 25 Selectivity → 6: 199 Self-ordering process → 4: 219 Shellfish → 4: 43 Six-cornered snowflakes → 6: 27 Social commitment of scientists → 5: 147 Social Darwinism → 5: 199 Socialization of knowledge → 5: 177 Sociobiology → 5: 199 Soft architecture → 6: 49 Sol-gel methods → 4: 157 Solid-phase extraction → 6: 199 Sorbents → 6: 199 Space astronomy → 6: 11 Spain → 6: 81 Spin-orbit coupling → 4: 203 Spintronics → 4: 203 Stability studies → 6: 21 Structures → 6: 41 Submarine navigation → 5: 147 Suma de la art de arismètica → 6: 59

Summa de l’art d’arismètica → 6: 59 Surface pressure-area isotherm → 4: 177 Symbolic architecture → 6: 49 Tandem process → 6: 199 The Universe → 5: 133 Theoretical chemistry → 6: 133 Theory of evolution → 5: 177 Thin films → 4: 193 Total synthesis → 6: 143 Toxicity → 6: 193 Toxicology → 4: 171, 213 Transmission spectra → 4: 219 Transparent and flexible electrodes → 4: 193 Trehalose synthesis → 5: 95 Ultrasequencing → 5: 169 Valencia → 6: 215 Validation → 6: 99 Water analysis → 6: 193 Water availability → 4: 21 Water on surfaces →4: 141 Water stress → 6: 115 Wood charcoal → 4: 21 X-ray diffraction → 4: 157, 219 Yield → 6: 115

Paraules clau Index · volums 4, 5, 6 Àcid okadaic → 4: 43 Acoblament espín-òrbita → 4: 203 Adsorció d’adàtoms → 6: 661 Adsorció d’anions → 6: 661 Aigua en suferficies → 4: 141 Al-Andalus → 5: 141 Al·lergògens → 6: 173 Alúmina porosa → 4: 219 Anàlisi d’aigua → 6: 193 Anodització → 4: 219 Antibiòtics → 6: 173 Antoni Gaudí → 6: 41, 49 Aplicacions de MLC en química bioanalítica → 6: 105 Apoptosi → 4: 33 Aqüífers → 6: 81 Aritmética pràctica al segle XV → 6: 59 Aritmètiques mercantils europees al segle XV → 6: 59 Arqueologia → 4: 21 Arquitectura simbólica → 6: 49 Arquitectura tova → 6: 49 Astrometria → 6: 11 Astronomia des de l’espai → 6: 11 Astronomia àrab → 5: 141 Autobiografia de Darwin → 5: 17 Balanç de clorurs → 6: 81 Beatus de Girona → 6: 41 www.cat-science.cat

Bibliometria → 5: 63 Biblioteca de Catalunya→ 6: 35 Bilingüisme → 6: 21 Biocontenció → 6: 99 Biodisponibilitat → 6: 193 Biodistribució → 4: 171, 213 Biofilms → 5: 55 Bioinformàtica → 6: 133 Biologia computacional → 6: 133 Biomedicina → 5: 177 Biopel·lícules → 5: 85 Bioprotecció → 6: 99 Bioseguretat → 6: 99 Biosensor → 4: 43 Biosensors de DNA → 6: 173 Cables quàntics → 4: 203 Canal iònic → 4: 11 Càncer → 5: 91 Capacitat → 6: 199 Capes primes → 4: 193 Carbociclització → 6: 155 Catalunya → 6: 81 Catalunya i les ciències → 6: 35 Charles Darwin → 5: 11, 17, 133, 177, 183, 193, 199 Ciclitzacions → 6: 143 Ciència vs. creacionisme→ 5: 193

205

Circulació de coneixements → 5: 141 Compètencia lingüística → 6: 21 Composició del raïm → 6: 115 Compostos organolítics → 6: 155 Compromís social dels científics → 5: 147 Conductància → 4: 203 Conjectura de Kepler → 6: 27 Contaminants emergents → 6: 193 Cromatografia líquida micel·lar (MLC) → 6: 105 Cronoestratigrafia → 5: 41 Darwinisme social → 5: 199 Descobriment de l’electricitat → 5: 115 Desenvolupament → 6: 75 Deshidrogenació oxidativa → 4: 223 Desplaçament de càrregues → 6: 161 Determinació analítica → 6: 199 Desprotecció → 6: 155 Difracció de raigs X → 4: 157, 219 Dinámica de quasiespècies → 5: 161 Directrius → 6: 99 Disponibilitat hídrica → 4: 21 Distància interlingüística → 6: 21 Diversitat i activitat microbianes → 5: 55 Documentació → 6: 75 Documentació científica → 6: 75 Ecosistemes marins → 5: 25

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

volums 4, 5, 6

Elèctrodes transparents i flexibles → 4: 193 Electrodifusió → 4: 11 Elements químics → 5: 133 Emergència de la resistència a antibiòtics → 5: 71 Emma Wedgwood (Emma Darwin) → 5: 17 Energia nuclear → 5; 77 Enins → 6: 143 Enginyeria a Catalunya al segle XIX → 5: 147 Ergoteràpia → 6: 49 Espanya → 6: 81 Espectre de transmission → 4: 219 Espectroscòpia de forces → 4: 177 Espintrònica → 4: 203 Estats electronics → 4: 203 Estratègies de modelització i optimització en MLC → 6: 105 Estrès hídric → 6: 115 Estructura bacteriana → 5: 55 Estructura cristal·lina → 4: 157 Estructures → 6: 41 Estudi d’estabilitat → 6: 21 Èters bicíclics → 6: 155 Evolució → 5: 11, 133 Evolució biològica → 5: 161 Evolució humana → 5: 169 Evolució procariota → 5: 95 Evolucionisme → 5: 199 Explosió càmbrica → 5: 183 Extracció en fase sòlida → 6: 199 Factor d’impacte → 5: 63 FAIM → 4: 33 Fauna dels esquists de Burgess (Burgess Shale) → 5: 183 FEMS → 5: 71 Floc de neu de sis punts → 6: 27 Floració d’algues nocives (FAN) → 4: 43 Francesc Santcliment → 6: 59 Fustes carbonitzades → 4: 21 Gaia → 5: 11 Galàxia → 6: 11 Geometria → 6: 27 Giuseppe Veratti → 5: 115 Granes carbonitzades → 4: 21 GSSP (“secció i punt d’estratotip límit global”) → 5: 41 Hiperboloide → 6: 41 Història de la ciència → 5: 115, 133, 141 Història de la Terra → 5: 41 Història de la vida → 5: 183 Holocè tardà → 4: 21 Hospital Psiquiàtric de Sant Boi → 6: 49 IAEA (Viena) → 5: 77 Ictineu → 5: 147 Illes Balears → 6: 215 Illes Canàries → 6: 81 Immunosensors → 6: 173 Impacte dels humans a la Terra → 5: 11 Impacte dels humans en la pesca → 5: 25 Incunables científics catalans → 6: 59 Innovació → 6: 75 Interacció de Rashba → 4: 203 Interaccions hidrofòbiques i hidrofíliques a nivell molecular → 4: 141

www.cat-science.cat

Irrigació → 6: 115 Islam → 5: 141 Isoterma pressió superficial-àrea → 4: 177 Johannes Kepler → 6: 27 Josep Llimona → 6: 35 Josep Puig i Cadafalch → 6: 35 L’origen de les espècies → 5: 11, 17 L’Univers → 5: 133 Laura Bassi → 5: 115 Les “millores” de Darwin → 5: 183 LFG → 4: 33 Liofilització → 4: 223 Litiació → 6: 155 Marisc → 4: 43 Materials òptics → 4: 157 Medicina regenerativa → 5: 91 Mediterrània → 5: 25 Membrana biológica → 4: 11 Mètodes sol-gel → 4: 157 Microbiologia europea → 5: 71 Microscòpia d’angle de Brewster → 4: 177 Microscòpia d’efecte túnel (STM) → 4: 141 Microscòpia de força atómica (AFM) → 4: 141, 177 Microscòpia de força lateral → 4: 177 Microscòpia de sonda de rastreig (SPM) → 4: 141 Mitjans de comunicació → 5: 177 Micropartícules de grafit → 6: 173 Models de finançament → 5: 107 Modernisme → 6: 49 Molibdats mixtos de cobalt i níquel → 4: 223 Monitoratge ambiental → 6: 193 Monocapa de Langmuir → 4: 177 Monocristalls de platí → 6: 161 Mort cel·lular programada → 5: 55 Multicapes → 6: 161 Mutagènesi letal → 5: 161 Nanocompostos → 4: 187 Nanoestructures → 4: 157 Nanopartícules → 4: 171, 213 Nanopartícules de níquel → 6: 155 Nanopartícules d’or → 6: 173 Nanotubs de carboni → 4: 187, 193 Narcís Monturiol → 5: 147 Navegació submarina → 5: 147 Neanderthal → 5: 169 Neurones → 4: 33 Nord-oest de la Mediterrània → 4: 21 Noucentisme →6: 35 Observatori → 6: 75 Or → 6: 143 Osmoadaptació → 5: 95 Osmoregulació → 5: 95 País Valencià → 6: 215 Paleogenòmica 5: 169 Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu de Sant Boi de Llobregat → 6: 41 Partícxules magnètiques → 6: 173 Patògens bacterians → 6: 173

206

Pel·lícula Langmuir-Blogdett → 4: 177 Plaguicides → 6: 173 Polímers conjugats → 4: 187 Portaempelt → 6: 115 Portal MERIDIÀ → 6: 75 Porus bacterians → 4: 11 Potencial de càrrega total zero → 6: 161 Precipitació → 4: 21 Procés d’autoordenació → 4: 219 Processos en tàndem → 6: 143 Productes de degradació → 6: 193 Productivitat marina → 5: 25 Programa de seguiment → 4: 43 Propà → 4: 223 Propè → 4: 223 Quasiespècies → 5: 161 Química → 6: 215 Química computacional → 6: 133 Química teòrica → 6: 133 R+D+I → 6: 75 Recàrrega → 6: 81 Receptors de mort → 4: 33 Recerca → 6: 75, 215 Recerca en biomedicina → 5: 91 Registre fòssil → 5: 183 Rendiment → 6: 115 Reordenament → 6: 143 Residus alimentaris → 6: 173 Resistència als antibiòtics → 5: 85 Revistes d’accés lliure → 5: 107 Rutes biosintètiques → 5: 95 Science Citation Index → 5: 63 Selectivitat → 6: 199 Selectivitat iònica → 4: 11 Sensors flexibles → 4: 193 Síntesi de trehalosa → 5: 95 Síntesi total → 6: 143 Sociabilització del coneixement → 5: 177 Societat de la informació → 5: 177 Sociobiologia → 5: 199 Soluts compatibles → 5: 95 Sorbents → 6: 199 Suma de la art de arismètica → 6: 59 Tecnologies convergents → 6: 173 Teoria de l’evolució → 5: 177 Teoria de massa efectiva → 4: 203 Toxicologia → 4: 171, 213 Toxicitat → 6: 173 Toxina marina → 4: 43 Tractament informatiu científic → 5: 193 Transferència gènica horitzontal → 5: 85 Ultraseqüenciació → 5: 169 Ús pacific de l’energia atòmica → 5: 77 Validació → 6: 99 Via daurada → 5: 107 Virus RNA → 5: 161

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 201-206

ERRATUM CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 207 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia ISSN: 1575-6343 www.cat-science.cat

OPENAACCESS

ERRATUM CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 89-100

Erratum

Acknowledgements” (p.100) “This experience would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support of Andor Serra, Txema Benavides and all the BWR Organizers, and the technical team of the FMC, especially the skippers, Ludovic Aglaor and Gerard Marín, who piloted the FMC along its around-the-world trip. We are very grateful to all of them. The FMC was awarded with one of the IOC/UNESCO 50th anniversary ship flags in recognition of the present contribution to ocean research. This work was also supported by the MIDAS-6 project of the Spanish R+D+I National Plan (AYA2010-22062-C05) and is a contribution of the SMOS Barcelona Expert Centre (SMOS-BEC, CSIC/UPC).”

www.cat-science.cat

207

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE 9 (2013) 207

209

OPENAACCESS

Institute for Catalan Studies

The Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), academy of sciences and humanities, founded in 1907, is the top academic corporation of the territories of Catalan language and culture, and has been a full member of the International Academic Union since 1922. The IEC has 186 full or emeritus members from throughout the linguistic territory, and 72 corresponding members that represent our institution’s relations with the international scientific community, and has 28 filial societies of all fields of knowledge, with a total membership of around 10,000 across the whole territory. In addition, 111 local research centres also belong to it, and this shows how well grounded the research community is, throughout our cultural territory. The IEC is the central institution in the Catalan cultural world. It was set up in 1907 at the initiative of the Diputació de Barcelona to “establish here scientific study centres specialising and working not just in education, but in producing science and aiding research.” In the following years, the Institute set up its various science departments. The Philology Department, directed by Pompeu Fabra, played a key role in establishing the rules of the Catalan language.

210

OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL www.cat-science.cat | http://revistes.iec.cat/contributions

Instructions to authors Publication Board

GENERAL INFORMATION

Editor-in-Chief Ricard Guerrero, Biological Sciences Section, IEC

Contributions to Science is the international

Associate Editors Salvador Alegret, Science and Technology Section, IEC Ramon Gomis, Biological Sciences Section, IEC Editorial Office Managing Coordinator Carme Puche

cpuche@contributions.cat

Editors Mercè Piqueras, SCHCT-IEC mpiqueras@microbios.org

Mercedes Berlanga, University of Barcelona mberlanga@ub.edu

Carmen Chica, Barcelona cchica@microbios.org

Nicole Skinner, Imperial College, London, UK nico_skinner@hotmail.com

Wendy Ran, Wiesenttal, Germany ran.wendy@googlemail.com

Mary Anne Newman, New York, USA newm161@icloud.com

Javier del Campo, Univ of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada javier.delcampo@botany.ubc.ca

Digital Media Coordinator Jordi Rabascall, Estudi Puche S.L. jrabascall@contributions.cat

IT services Jordi Berenguer, Intergrid j.berenguer@intergrid.cat

Founded in 1999 by Salvador Reguant, Science and Technology Section, IEC Address

Contributions

Contributions to Science

Publisher Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia www.iec.cat ISSN (print): 1575-6343 e-ISSN (electronic): 2013-410X D.L.: B. 36385-1999

Institut d’Estudis Catalans Carme, 47 08001 Barcelona, Catalonia Tel. +34 932701620 Fax +34 932701180 Email: contributions@iec.cat

References should be in the following style:

FOREWORD

177 Vallmitjana M Ciència magazine, second period (1980–1991): Recovering normality for the Catalan scientific language

RESEARCH REVIEWS

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 Piqueras M, Guerrero R David Cardús (1922–2003), the physician of the space

HISTORICAL CORNER

Piqueras M 195 Ramon Casanova (1892–1968) and the pulse jet engine

NEWS AND VIEWS 199 Tomàs Salvà M Activities of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands 201

ANNUAL INDEXES (Volumes 4, 5, 6: years 2008, 2009, 2010)

OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL www.cat-science.cat http://revistes.iec.cat/contributions

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS CATALANS

Ramon Casanova Danés (Campdevàno 1892–Barcelona 1968)

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013 | pp 113-210

CONTRIBUTIONS to SCIENCE | VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013 Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Catalonia

ISSN 1575-6343 | E-ISSN 2013-410X | OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL | www.cat-science.cat

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 | DECEMBER 2013