Narrating the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Transhumanism and Critical Posthumanism in Catherine Lacey’s The Answers.

Recent scientific breakthroughs under the wing of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly in the realm of biotechnology, have prompted an integral redefinition of the human, looking toward the posthuman state. Stances on this question range from the transhumanists’ advocacy of overcoming biological limits, to the indexing of technoscientific advancement to an antihumanist and postanthropocentric project championed by critical posthumanism. These debates have been translated into speculative fiction works such as Catherine Lacey’ The Answers (2017). This novel revolves around the Girlfriend Experiment, a state-of-the-art research project aimed at taking the next step in our emotional evolution by eliminating the need for romantic relationships, bankrolled by a film industry mogul. This paper analyses the representation of human enhancement in the novel, arguing that the depiction of the material consequences of the experiment upon its research subjects amounts to a rejection of the unrestricted development of technology along transhumanist and neoliberal tenets. In this, The Answers offers a critical take on the Fourth Industrial Revolution aligned with the principles of critical posthumanism

Traducción e ideología: análisis de dos traducciones al español del discurso inaugural de Donald J. Trump

Treball Final de Grau. Grau en Traducció i Interpretació. Codi: TI0983. Curs acadèmic 2016/2017En este Trabajo de Final de Grado se intenta demostrar que la ideología está siempre presente en los procesos de traducción. Con este fin se ha creado un método de análisis basado en los ocho criterios que propone Mona Baker (2006), que se aplica al examen de dos traducciones de un texto de actualidad: el discurso inaugural del actual presidente de los Estados Unidos, Donald J. Trump. Los criterios, que se han mencionado anteriormente y que nos ayudarán a desentrañar las diferencias que existen entre las dos traducciones al español objeto de nuestro estudio, son estos ocho: temporality, relationality, causal emplotment, selective appropriation, particularity, genericness, normativeness/canonicity and breach y narrative accrual. La realización del análisis nos mostrará resultados reveladores de la omnipresencia de la ideología en la traducción y pondrá en evidencia a aquellas personas que argumentan que la traducción es un proceso completamente objetivo y neutral

Oligodendrogliopathy in neurodegenerative diseases with abnormal protein aggregates: the forgotten partner

Oligodendrocytes are in contact with neurons, wrap axons with a myelin sheath that protects their structural integrity, and facilitate nerve conduction. Oligodendrocytes also form a syncytium with astrocytes which interacts with neurons, promoting reciprocal survival mediated by activity and by molecules involved in energy metabolism and trophism. Therefore, oligodendrocytes are key elements in the normal functioning of the central nervous system. Oligodendrocytes are affected following different insults to the central nervous system including ischemia, traumatism, and inflammation. The term oligodendrogliopathy highlights the prominent role of altered oligodendrocytes in the pathogenesis of certain neurological diseases, not only in demyelinating diseases and most leukodystrophies, but also in aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases with abnormal protein aggregates. Most of these diseases are characterized by the presence of abnormal protein deposits, forming characteristic and specific inclusions in neurons and astrocytes but also in oligodendrocytes, thus signaling their involvement in the disease. Emerging evidence suggests that such deposits in oligodendrocytes are not mere bystanders but rather are associated with functional alterations. Moreover, operative modifications in oligodendrocytes are also detected in the absence of oligodendroglial inclusions in certain diseases. The present review focuses first on general aspects of oligodendrocytes and precursors, and their development and functions, and then introduces and updates alterations and dysfunction of oligodendrocytes in selected neurodegenerative diseases with abnormal protein aggregates such as multiple system atrophy, Lewy body diseases, tauopathies, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 inclusions (TDP-43 proteinopathies), and Creutzfeldt-Jakob´s disease as a prototypical human prionopathy

Sisyphus In Neverland

The study of life and living organisms and the way in which these interact and organize to form social communities have been central to my career. I have been fascinated by biology, neurology, and neuropathology, but also by history, sociology, and art. Certain current historical, political, and social events, some occurring proximally but others affecting people in apparently distant places, have had an impact on me. Epicurus, Seneca, and Camus shared their philosophical positions which I learned from. Many scientists from various disciplines have been exciting sources of knowledge as well. I have created a world of hypothesis and experiments but I have also got carried away by serendipity following unexpected observations. It has not been an easy path; errors and wanderings are not uncommon, and opponents close to home much more abundant than one might imagine. Ambition, imagination, resilience, and endurance have been useful in moving ahead in response to setbacks. In the end, I have enjoyed my dedication to science and I am grateful to have glimpsed beauty in it. These are brief memories of a Spanish neuropathologist born and raised in Barcelona, EU

The Primary Microglial Leukodystrophies: A Review

Primary microglial leukodystrophy or leukoencephalopathy are disorders in which a genetic defect linked to microglia causes cerebral white matter damage. Pigmented orthochromatic leukodystrophy, adult-onset orthochromatic leukodystrophy associated with pigmented macrophages, hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with (axonal) spheroids, and adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) are different terms apparently used to designate the same disease. However, ALSP linked to dominantly inherited mutations in CSF1R (colony stimulating factor receptor 1) cause CSF-1R-related leukoencephalopathy (CRP). Yet, recessive ALSP with ovarian failure linked to AARS2 (alanyl-transfer (t)RNA synthase 2) mutations (LKENP) is a mitochondrial disease and not a primary microglial leukoencephalopathy. Polycystic membranous lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy (PLOSL; Nasu-Hakola disease: NHD) is a systemic disease affecting bones, cerebral white matter, selected grey nuclei, and adipose tissue The disease is caused by mutations of one of the two genes TYROBP or TREM2, identified as PLOSL1 and PLOSL2, respectively. TYROBP associates with receptors expressed in NK cells, B and T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, monocytes, macrophages, and microglia. TREM2 encodes the protein TREM2 (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2), which forms a receptor signalling complex with TYROBP in macrophages and dendritic cells. Rather than pure microglial leukoencephalopathy, NHD can be considered a multisystemic immunological disease

Abnormal expression and distribution of MMP2 at initial stages of Alzheimer's disease-related pathology

Previous studies have shown that metalloproteinases (MMPs) participate in the clearance of amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD); MMP2 and MMP3 cleave soluble Aβ, and both MMP9 and MT1-MMP are able to degrade soluble and fibrillar forms of Aβ. The present study shows increased expression levels of active MMP2 in the entorhinal cortex at early stages of AD-related pathology (Braak and Braak stages I/II-0 and III/IV-A) as revealed by western blotting and gelatin zymography. Confocal microscopy discloses co-localization of MMP2 and phospho-tau in neurofibrillary tangles and dystrophic neurites. MMP2 has the capacity to cleave recombinant tau in vitro in a dose-dependent manner, consistent with a physiological function of MMP2 in normal tau proteolysis. However, MMP2 does not cleave hyperphosphorylated and dephosphorylated tau from enriched paired helical filament fractions. These observations raise the possibility that accumulation of MMP2 in neurofibrillary tangles and concomitant loss of proteolytic capacity on tau protein is a response geared to eliminating production of toxic truncated tau species in AD brains. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, metalloproteinases, MMP2, neurofibrillary tangles, ta

"Having a body doesn't give you any rights at all": Transhumanism and Critical Posthumanism in Catherine Lacey's The Answers (2017).

Los avances científicos al amparo de la Cuarta Revolución Industrial, sobre todo en el ámbito de la biotecnología y el perfeccionamiento humano, han impulsado una redefinición integral de la humanidad, con la mirada puesta en lo posthumano. Existen diferentes posturas sobre esta cuestión, yendo desde el transhumanismo, que busca superar los límites biológicos usando la tecnología; al posthumanismo crítico, que se inspira en el antihumanismo y el postantropocentrismo para abogar por una redefinición de lo humano que haga hincapié en la corporeidad y en una relación no jerárquica con los otros naturales y tecnológicos.Estos debates se han manifestado en obras literarias, especialmente en el campo de la ficción especulativa. Este trabajo analizará The Answers (2017), una novela de Catherine Lacey que narra el "Girlfriend Experiment", un proyecto de investigación de vanguardia destinado a dar el siguiente paso en nuestra evolución emocional, financiado por un magnate del cine. La novela ilustra las devastadoras consecuencias de este experimento, criticando así el desarrollo científico y tecnológico de acuerdo con las ideas transhumanistas. En su denuncia de la explotación bajo el tecno-capitalismo contemporáneo, agravada por factores de clase y género, y su reivindicación de la corporeidad, The Answers ofrece una visión crítica de la Cuarta Revolución Industrial en sintonía con los principios del posthumanismo crítico.<br /

White matter alterations in Alzheimer’s disease without concomitant pathologies

Aims: Most individuals with AD neuropathological changes have co-morbidities which have an impact on the integrity of the WM. This study analyses oligodendrocyte and myelin markers in the frontal WM in a series of AD cases without clinical or pathological co-morbidities. Methods: From a consecutive autopsy series, 206 cases had neuropathological changes of AD; among them, only 33 were AD without co-morbidities. WM alterations were first evaluated in coronal sections of the frontal lobe in every case. Then, RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry were carried out in the frontal WM of AD cases without co-morbidities to analyse the expression of selected oligodendrocyte and myelin markers. Results: WM demyelination was more marked in AD with co-morbidities when compared with AD cases without co-morbidities. Regarding the later, mRNA expression levels of MBP, PLP1, CNP, MAG, MAL, MOG and MOBP were preserved at stages I-II/0-A when compared with middle-aged (MA) individuals, but significantly decreased at stages III-IV/0-C. This was accompanied by reduced expression of NG2 and PDGFRA mRNA, reduced numbers of NG2-, Olig2- and HDAC2-immunoreactive cells and reduced glucose transporter immunoreactivity. Partial recovery of some of these markers occurred at stages V-VI/B-C. Conclusions: The present observations demonstrate that co-morbidities have an impact on WM integrity in the elderly and in AD, and that early alterations in oligodendrocytes and transcription of genes linked to myelin proteins in WM occur in AD cases without co-morbidities. These are followed by partial recovery attempts at advanced stages. These observations suggest that oligodendrocytopathy is part of AD