Thyroid hormones inhibit TGF-β signaling and attenuate fibrotic responses

TGF-β, the most potent profibrogenic factor, acts by activating SMAD (mothers against decapentaplegic) transcription factors, which bind to SMAD-binding elements in target genes. Here, we show that the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3), through binding to its nuclear receptors (TRs), is able to antagonize transcriptional activation by TGF-β/SMAD. This antagonism involves reduced phosphorylation of SMADs and a direct interaction of the receptors with SMAD3 and SMAD4 that is independent of T3-mediated transcriptional activity but requires residues in the receptor DNA binding domain. T3 reduces occupancy of SMADbinding elements in response to TGF-β, reducing histone acetylation and inhibiting transcription. In agreement with this transcriptional cross-talk, T3 is able to antagonize fibrotic processes in vivo. Liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride is attenuated by thyroid hormone administration to mice, whereas aged TR knockout mice spontaneously accumulate collagen. Furthermore, skin fibrosis induced by bleomycin administration is also reduced by the thyroid hormones. These findings define an important function of the thyroid hormone receptors and suggest TR ligands could have beneficial effects to block the progression of fibrotic diseases.This work was supported by Grants BFU2011-28058 and BFU2014-53610P from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; S2011/BMD-2328 TIRONET from the Comunidad de Madrid; and RD12/0036/0030 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. The cost of this publication has been paid in part by FEDER fund

Rúbriques per a l'avaluació de competències

Podeu consultar la versió castellana a recurs relacionat.Aquest Quadern és una introducció a l’ús de rúbriques per a l’avaluació dels aprenentatges en l’Educació Superior. Basat en el curs «Elaboració de rúbriques per a l’avaluació de les competències transversals», organitzat per l’Institut de Ciències de l’Educació de la Universitat de Barcelona, ha recollit el resultat de la participació de professorat d’enenyaments diversos de la UB, amb la ánalitat de col·laborar interdisciplinàriament en l’elaboració de rúbriques per avaluar les competències transversals, en primer lloc, i d’elaborar rúbriques sobre les pròpies assignatures en segon lloc.Per tal d’elaborar les rúbriques sobre les competències transversals, s’han definit les competències, s’han establert indicadors i criteris d’avaluació. Considerem que el resultat de l’anàlisi, de les definicions, dels indicadors i de les mateixes rúbriques, no és generalitzable però constitueix un material de primera mà per al desenvolupament i implementació de les rúbriques en l’avaluació de les assignatures a partir dels models oferts

Current international projects in the Duero and Miño-Sil basins

[EN] This paper summarizes the research work that is being carried out within the framework of three international projects with a lifetime between 2022 and 2026: (1) LIFE-IP-Duero; (2) Supporting stakeholders for adaptive, resilience and sustainable water management; (3) IGCP- 730. (1) and (2) are developed in the Duero river basin and are funded by the European Commission meanwhile (3) is being developed in the Duero and Miño-Sil basins and is funded by the International Geosciences Programme (IGCP) of UNESCO.Peer reviewe

Rúbricas para la evaluación de competencias

Podeu consultar la versió catalana a recurs relacionat.[spa] Este cuaderno es una introducción al uso de rúbricas para la evaluación de los aprendizajes en educación superior. Basado en el curso «Elaboración de rúbricas para la evaluación de competencias transversales», organizado por el Institut de Ciències de l’Educació de la Universitat de Barcelona, recoge el resultado de la participación del profesorado de distintas enseñanzas de la UB, con la finalidad de colaborar interdisciplinariamente en la elaboración de rúbricas para evaluar las competencias transversales, en primer lugar, y de elaborar rúbricas sobre las propias asignaturas, en segundo lugar. Para elaborar las rúbricas sobre las competencias transversales, se han definido las competencias y se han establecido indicadores y criterios de evaluación. Consideramos que el resultado del análisis, de las definiciones, de los indicadores y de las propias rúbricas no es generalizable, pero constituye un material de primera mano para el desarrollo e implementación de las rúbricas en la evaluación de las asignaturas a partir de los modelos ofrecidos.[eng] This book is an introduction to the use of rubrics for the evaluation of learnings in Higher Education. Based on the course «How to prepare rubrics for the evaluation of transversal competences», organized by the Institut of Learning Sciences of the University of Barcelona, and it’s the result of the participation of professorship from different departments of the UB, with the purpose of interdisciplinarily collaborating in the preparation of rubrics to evaluate transversal competences and to elaborate rubrics on the own subjects. To make rubrics about transversal competences, we define them and establish indicators and criteria of evaluation. We think that the result of the analysis, definitions, indicators and the own rubrics cannot be generalized, but it’s a firsthand material for the development and implementation of the rubrics in the evaluation of subjects based at offered models

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements