The potential global effects and transmission channels of a slowdown in Chinese growth

Rationale Having picked up following the end of the zero-COVID policy, Chinese economic activity is now slowing. This comes against a backdrop of, inter alia, increased uncertainty related to difficulties in the domestic real estate sector. This article examines and quantifies the different channels through which a potential slowdown in the Chinese economy could affect activity and inflation levels in the world’s major economies. Takeaways • A growth slowdown in China, partly linked to problems in its real estate sector, could pose a downside risk to activity levels in the world’s major economies. • This impact would be felt, with varying intensity, through various channels: trade, commodities and international financial markets. • In the euro area, a temporary slowdown in Chinese economic activity of 1 percentage point (pp) would reduce GDP growth by 0.1 pp in the first year, while lowering inflation by 0.4 pp

Los posibles efectos globales de un menor crecimiento en China y sus canales de transmisión

Motivación La actividad económica en China se está desacelerando tras el impulso que registró derivado del fin de la política de COVID cero. En el contexto actual destaca, entre otros factores, el aumento de la incertidumbre ligada a los problemas del sector inmobiliario nacional. Este artículo examina y cuantifica los distintos canales a través de los cuales una potencial desaceleración de la economía china podría afectar a los niveles de actividad e inflación de las principales economías mundiales. Ideas principales • Una desaceleración del crecimiento en China, ligada, en parte, a los problemas de su sector inmobiliario, podría suponer un riesgo a la baja sobre los niveles de actividad de las principales economías mundiales. • Los efectos del menor crecimiento en China se transmitirían, con distinta intensidad, a través de varios canales: el comercial, el de las materias primas y el de los mercados financieros internacionales. • En el área del euro, una desaceleración transitoria de la actividad económica en China de 1 punto porcentual (pp) reduciría el crecimiento del PIB en 0,1 pp en el primer año, y también disminuiría la inflación en 0,4 pp

Box 2. The EU economies’ natural gas inventories in 2022 and 2023 under two hypothetical scenarios

Artículo de revistaThis early-release box was published on 16 Septembe

Recuadro 2. Evolución de los inventarios de gas natural en 2022 y 2023 en las economías de la Unión Europea bajo dos escenarios hipotéticos

Artículo de revistaEste recuadro fue publicado anticipadamente el 16 de septiembr

RNA-Seq analysis of ileocecal valve and peripheral blood from Holstein cattle infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis revealed dysregulation of the CXCL8/IL8 signaling pathway

[EN] Paratuberculosis is chronic granulomatous enteritis of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Whole RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a promising source of novel biomarkers for early MAP infection and disease progression in cattle. Since the blood transcriptome is widely used as a source of biomarkers, we analyzed whether it recapitulates, at least in part, the transcriptome of the ileocecal valve (ICV), the primary site of MAP colonization. Total RNA was prepared from peripheral blood (PB) and ICV samples, and RNA-Seq was used to compare gene expression between animals with focal or diffuse histopathological lesions in gut tissues versus control animals with no detectable signs of infection. Our results demonstrated both shared, and PB and ICV-specific gene expression in response to a natural MAP infection. As expected, the number of differentially expressed (DE) genes was larger in the ICV than in the PB samples. Among the DE genes in the PB and ICV samples, there were some common genes irrespective of the type of lesion including the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8/IL8), apolipoprotein L (APOLD1), and the interferon inducible protein 27 (IFI27). The biological processes (BP) enriched in the PB gene expression profiles from the cows with diffuse lesions included the killing of cells of other organism, defense response, immune response and the regulation of neutrophil chemotaxis. Two of these BP, the defense and immune response, were also enriched in the ICV from the cows with diffuse lesions. Metabolic analysis of the DE genes revealed that the N-glycan biosynthesis, bile secretion, one-carbon pool by folate and purine metabolism were significantly enriched in the ICV from the cows with focal lesions. In the ICV from cows with diffuse lesions; the valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation route, purine metabolism, vitamin digestion and absorption and the cholesterol routes were enriched. Some of the identified DE genes, BP and metabolic pathways will be studied further to develop novel diagnostic tools, vaccines and immunotherapeuticsSIThis work was supported by grants from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) and by European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER) (INIA RTA2014-00009-C02 and RTA2018-094192). Te study is partially funded by the Principado de Asturias (PCTI 2018–2020, GRUPIN: IDI2018-000237). Maria Canive and Cristina Blanco-Vazquez are recipients of INIA fellowships. Te authors thank ASTEGA Veterinary services for their assistance on sample collection. We are also grateful to Kyle Hearn for the careful editing of the manuscrip

Oncolytic viruses as therapeutic tools for pediatric brain tumors

In recent years, we have seen an important progress in our comprehension of the molecular basis of pediatric brain tumors (PBTs). However, they still represent the main cause of death by disease in children. Due to the poor prognosis of some types of PBTs and the long-term adverse effects associated with the traditional treatments, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as an interesting therapeutic option since they displayed safety and high tolerability in pre-clinical and clinical levels. In this review, we summarize the OVs evaluated in different types of PBTs, mostly in pre-clinical studies, and we discuss the possible future direction of research in this field. In this sense, one important aspect of OVs antitumoral effect is the stimulation of an immune response against the tumor which is necessary for a complete response in preclinical immunocompetent models and in the clinic. The role of the immune system in the response of OVs needs to be evaluated in PBTs and represents an experimental challenge due to the limited immunocompetent models of these diseases available for pre-clinical research

Novel Mutation Hotspots within Non-Coding Regulatory Regions of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Genome

Mutations in non-coding DNA regions are increasingly recognized as cancer drivers. These mutations can modify gene expression in cis or by inducing high-order chormatin structure modifications with long-range effects. Previous analysis reported the detection of recurrent and functional non-coding DNA mutations in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) genome, such as those in the 3' untranslated region of NOTCH1 and in the PAX5 super-enhancer. In this report, we used whole genome sequencing data produced by the International Cancer Genome Consortium in order to analyze regions with previously reported regulatory activity. This approach enabled the identification of numerous recurrently mutated regions that were frequently positioned in the proximity of genes involved in immune and oncogenic pathways. By correlating these mutations with expression of their nearest genes, we detected significant transcriptional changes in genes such as PHF2 and S1PR2. More research is needed to clarify the function of these mutations in CLL, particularly those found in intergenic regions

Viure amb càncer colorectal

Treballs d'Educació Farmacèutica als ciutadans. Unitat Docent d'Estades en Pràctiques Tutelades. Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2015-2016. Tutors: Jordi Casas Sánchez i Marian March Pujol

Sample dilution and bacterial community composition influence empirical leucine-to-carbon conversion factors in surface waters of the world's oceans

Research articleThe transformation of leucine incorporation into prokaryotic carbon production rates requires the use of either theoretical or empirically determined conversion factors. Empirical leucine-to-carbon conversion factors (eCFs) vary widely across environments, and little is known about their potential controlling factors. We conducted 10 surface seawater manipulation experiments across the world’s oceans, where the growth of the natural prokaryotic assemblages was promoted by filtration (i.e. removal of grazers; F treatment) or filtration combined with dilution (i.e. relieving also resource competition; FD treatment). The impact of sunlight exposure was also evaluated in the FD treatments, and we did not find a significant effect on the eCFs. The eCFs varied from 0.09 to 1.47 kg C mol Leu-1 and were significantly lower in the filtered and diluted (FD) than in the filtered (F) treatments. Also, changes in bacterial community composition during the incubations, as assessed by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA), were stronger in the FD than in the F treatments, as compared to unmanipulated controls. Thus, we discourage the common procedure of diluting samples (in addition to filtration) for eCFs determination. The eCFs in the filtered treatment were negatively correlated with the initial chlorophyll a concentration, picocyanobacterial abundance (mostly Prochlorococcus) and the percentage of heterotrophic prokaryotes with high nucleic acid content (%HNA). The latter two variables explained 80% of the eCFs variability in the F treatment, supporting the view that both Prochlorococcus and HNA prokaryotes incorporate leucine in substantial amounts although resulting into relatively low carbon production rates in the oligotrophic ocean.En prensa3,829