Un recull dels darrers estudis geogràfics sobre el Japó (1980-1992)

Le centre d'Études Japonaises de l'Université Autonome de Barcelone a pour but l'étutle interdisciplinaire du Japon, la promotion et la coordination des projets de recherche et l'enseignement de japonologie. Cet article présente un recueil d'études géographiques sur le Japon (1980-1992) ?i partir de deux sources: la Sixième Conférence Internationale de l'Association Européenne d'Études Japonaises (Berlin, 1991) et la base de données Dissertation Abstracts Ondisc (recherche réalide dans les universités d' Amérique du Nord et, après 1988, dans tous les pays du monde).The objectives of The Centre of Japanese Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is the multidisciplinary study of Japan, through the promotion and coordination of research projects and teaching on Japanology. This article is a compendium of geographical studies on Japan between 1980 and 1992, taken from two sources: the 6th International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (Berlin, 1991) and the Dissertation Abstracts Ondisc data base (a research project carried out initially by North American Universities and which has spread worldwide since 1988).El Centro de Estudios Japoneses de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona tiene como finalidad el estudio pluridisciplinario del Japón, y promueve y coordina proyectos de investigación y docencia sobre japonología. El articulo presenta una colección de estudios geográficos sobre el Japón (1980-1992) a partir de dos fuentes: la Sexta Conferencia Internacional de la Asociación Europea de Estudios Japoneses (Berlín, 1991), y la base de datos Dissertation Abstracts Ondisc (investigación realizada en las universidades norteamericanas, y desde 1988, en todo el mundo).El Centre d'Estudis Japonesos de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona té com a finalitat l'estudi interdisciplinari del Japó i promou i coordina projectes d'investigació i docència sobre japonologia. L'article és un recull d'estudis geogrhfics sobre el Japó (1980-1992) extrets de dues fonts: la Sisena Conferència Internacional de l'Associació Europea d'Estudis Japonesos (Berlín, 1991), i la base de dades Dissertation Abstracts Ondisc (recerca realitzada a les universitats nord-americanes, i des del 1988, a tot el món)

Liver GlucokinaseA456V Induces Potent Hypoglycemia without Dyslipidemia through a Paradoxical Induction of the Catalytic Subunit of Glucose-6-Phosphatase

Recent reports point out the importance of the complex GK-GKRP in controlling glucose and lipid homeostasis. Several GK mutations affect GKRP binding, resulting in permanent activation of the enzyme. We hypothesize that hepatic overexpression of a mutated form of GK, GKA456V, described in a patient with persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy (PHHI) and could provide a model to study the consequences of GK-GKRP deregulation in vivo. GKA456V was overexpressed in the liver of streptozotocin diabetic mice. Metabolite profiling in serum and liver extracts, together with changes in key components of glucose and lipid homeostasis, were analyzed and compared to GK wild-type transfected livers. Cell compartmentalization of the mutant but not the wild-type GK was clearly affected in vivo, demonstrating impaired GKRP regulation. GKA456V overexpression markedly reduced blood glucose in the absence of dyslipidemia, in contrast to wild-type GK-overexpressing mice. Evidence in glucose utilization did not correlate with increased glycogen nor lactate levels in the liver. PEPCK mRNA was not affected, whereas the mRNA for the catalytic subunit of glucose-6-phosphatase was upregulated ~4 folds in the liver of GKA456V-treated animals, suggesting that glucose cycling was stimulated. Our results provide new insights into the complex GK regulatory network and validate liver-specific GK activation as a strategy for diabetes therapy

Aprenentatge entre iguals: mentre tu aprens jo consolido els meus coneixements

Els alumnes de primer curs de Podologia acostumen a accedir al Grau per vies diverses i un gran nombre no ha estudiat el Batxillerat Científic. Aquesta diversitat es tradueix en un alumnat heterogeni a l’aula, tant pel que fa als seus coneixements previs com pel seu interès en les matèries bàsiques que es treballen en l’assignatura Bioquímica i Biofísica. En conseqüència, el professorat repetidament havia posat de manifest que era difícil dur a terme les classes a un bon ritme i acabar el programa, ja que mentre uns alumnes es desmotivaven per no poder seguir les classes, d’altres s’avorrien. Amb la finalitat d’homogeneïtzar els coneixements de l’alumnat i afavorir-ne la transmissió transversal, durant el curs 2015-2016 vam incloure diverses sessions amb la metodologia docent d’aprenentatge entre iguals. Les sessions eren de caràcter voluntari i consistien en què alguns alumnes amb un nivell inicial de coneixements alt (determinat en una prova de nivell realitzada el primer dia de classe) tutoritzaven a companys amb un nivell més baix. Com a resultat d’aquesta experiència, si bé el professorat no va percebre millores substancials en el desenvolupament de les classes, sí que es va observar una menor incidència de suspesos entre els alumnes que havien estat tutoritzats

Accelerating amphoric epigraphy studies. Analysis tools for his visualization

Uno de los trabajos más repetidos en cualquier investigación relacionada con el estudio de la cultura material y de su epigrafía suele ser el de la elaboración de gráficas y mapas de los datos analizados. Con ello se ofrece una visión general o detallada del conjunto de materiales recogidos, con la intención de observar similitudes o diferencias entre estos u otros datos. Aquí se presenta un breve resumen sobre el fenómeno vinculado a la digitalización de catálogos de epigrafía anfórica y su actual vínculo a herramientas de análisis desarrolladas en el marco de las Humanidades Digitales. En este caso, guionizamos el uso de la interfaz de visualización anfórica del CEIPAC: Roman Open Data (https://romanopendata.eu).One of the most repeated works in any research related to the study of material culture and / or its epigraphy is usually that of the elaboration of graphs and maps of the analyzed data. This provides a general or detailed view of the set of materials collected, with the intention of observing similarities or differences between these or other data. Here is a brief summary of the phenomenon linked to the digitization of amphorae epigraphy catalogs and its current link to analysis tools developed within the framework of Digital Humanities. In this case, we script the use of CEIPAC's amphoric visualization interface: Roman Open Data (https://romanopendata.eu).Universidad Nacional de La PlataAsociación Argentina de Humanidades Digitale

Distributing deep learning hyperparameter tuning for 3D medical image segmentation

Most research on novel techniques for 3D Medical Image Segmentation (MIS) is currently done using Deep Learning with GPU accelerators. The principal challenge of such technique is that a single input can easily cope computing resources, and require prohibitive amounts of time to be processed. Distribution of deep learning and scalability over computing devices is an actual need for progressing on such research field. Conventional distribution of neural networks consist in “data parallelism”, where data is scattered over resources (e.g., GPUs) to parallelize the training of the model. However, “experiment parallelism” is also an option, where different training processes (i.e., on a hyper-parameter search) are parallelized across resources. While the first option is much more common on 3D image segmentation, the second provides a pipeline design with less dependence among parallelized processes, allowing overhead reduction and more potential scalability. In this work we present a design for distributed deep learning training pipelines, focusing on multi-node and multi-GPU environments, where the two different distribution approaches are deployed and benchmarked. We take as proof of concept the 3D U-Net architecture, using the MSD Brain Tumor Segmentation dataset, a state-of-art problem in medical image segmentation with high computing and space requirements. Using the BSC MareNostrum supercomputer as benchmarking environment, we use TensorFlow and Ray as neural network training and experiment distribution platforms. We evaluate the experiment speed-up when parallelizing, showing the potential for scaling out on GPUs and nodes. Also comparing the different parallelism techniques, showing how experiment distribution leverages better such resources through scaling, e.g. by a speed-up factor from x12 to x14 using 32 GPUs. Finally, we provide the implementation of the design open to the community, and the non-trivial steps and methodology for adapting and deploying a MIS case as the here presented.This work has been partially financed by the European Commission (EU-H2020 INCISIVE GA.952179, and CALLISTO GA.101004152). Also the Spanish Ministry of Science (PID2019- 107255GB-C22/ AEI / 10.13039/501100011033), and Generalitat de Catalunya through the 2017-SGR-1414 project.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Sgs1’s roles in DNA end resection, HJ dissolution, and crossover suppression require a two-step SUMO regulation dependent on Smc5/6

The RecQ helicase Sgs1 plays critical roles during DNA repair by homologous recombination, fromend resection to Holliday junction (HJ) dissolution. Sgs1 has both pro- and anti-recombinogenic roles, and therefore its activity must be tightly regulated. However, the controls involved in recruitment and activation of Sgs1 at damaged sites are unknown. Here we show a two-step role for Smc5/6 in recruiting and activating Sgs1 through SUMOylation. First, auto-SUMOylation of Smc5/6 subunits leads to recruitment of Sgs1 as part of the STR (Sgs1–Top3–Rmi1) complex, mediated by two SUMO-interacting motifs (SIMs) on Sgs1 that specifically recognize SUMOylated Smc5/6. Second, Smc5/6-dependent SUMOylation of Sgs1 and Top3 is required for the efficient function of STR. Sgs1 mutants impaired in recognition of SUMOylated Smc5/6 (sgs1-SIMΔ) or SUMO-dead alleles (sgs1-KR) exhibit unprocessed HJs at damaged replication forks, increased crossover frequencies during double-strand break repair, and severe impairment in DNA end resection. Smc5/6 is a key regulator of Sgs1’s recombination functions.We thank the Aragon laboratory for discussions and critical reading of the manuscript.We thank the Clinical Sciences Centre Proteomics Facility (P. Cutillas and P. Faull) for help and advice on our proteomic analysis. Work in J.T.-R.’s laboratory is supported by grants BFU2015-71308-P and BFU2013-50245-EXP from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity.Work in the Aragon laboratory was supported by the intramural programme of the Medical Research Council UK and the Wellcome Trust (100955)

Sumoylation of Smc5 Promotes Error-free Bypass at Damaged Replication Forks

Replication of a damaged DNA template can threaten the integrity of the genome, requiring the use of various mechanisms to tolerate DNA lesions. The Smc5/6 complex, together with the Nse2/Mms21 SUMO ligase, plays essential roles in genome stability through undefined tasks at damaged replication forks. Various subunits within the Smc5/6 complex are substrates of Nse2, but we currently do not know the role of these modifications. Here we show that sumoylation of Smc5 is targeted to its coiled-coil domain, is upregulated by replication fork damage, and participates in bypass of DNA lesions. smc5-KR mutant cells display defects in formation of sister chromatid junctions and higher translesion synthesis. Also, we provide evidence indicating that Smc5 sumoylation modulates Mph1-dependent fork regression, acting synergistically with other pathways to promote chromosome disjunction. We propose that sumoylation of Smc5 enhances physical remodeling of damaged forks, avoiding the use of a more mutagenic tolerance pathway.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (BFU2015-71308-P, PGC2018-097796-B-I00)AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya (2017-SGR-569

Elicitor activity of curdlan and its potential application in protection of hass avocado plants against phytophthora cinnamomi rands

Phytophthora cinnamomi causes one of the most important diseases in avocado crop and its chemical management represents 25% of the production cost per year. Induction of plant defense responses by elicitors is a promising strategy that is compatible with sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of curdlan application on the induction of defense responses in avocado plants against P. cinnamomi. The trials were conducted under greenhouse conditions, and curdlan leaf spraying was performed one day before the inoculation of the pathogen. The results showed that the application of elicitor significantly increased the protection of avocado plants against P. cinnamomi, decreasing the injury and wilting. The Curd + Phy treatment improved the defenses of plants by increasing the enzymes peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in the first 3 h after inoculation and increasing the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL) 144 h after inoculation (p < 0.05). Also, chlorophyll and carotenoid content increased or remained stable in Curd + Phy treatment. Therefore, these results suggest that curdlan increases the protection against P. cinnamomi and its protection could be due to an increase in the activity of the enzymes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway as well as the effect on chlorophyll and carotenoidsThis study was supported by the project "Desarrollo de Conocimiento para la Generacion de Tecnologias de Produccion y Poscosecha del Aguacate Hass en el Departamento del Tolima", BPIN code: 2012000100150

Reducing bacterial adhesion to titanium surfaces using low intensity alternating electrical pulses

BACKGROUND Orthopedic implant-related infection remains one of the most serious complications after orthopedic surgery. In recent years, there has been an increased scientific interest to improve prevention and treatment strategies. However, many of these strategies have focused on chemical measures. AIM To analyze the effect of alternating current electrical fields on bacterial adherence to titanium surfaces. METHODS Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were exposed to 6.5 V electrical currents at different frequencies: 0.5 Hz, 0.1 Hz, and 0.05 Hz. After exposure, a bacterial count was then performed and compared to the control model. Other variables registered included the presence of electrocoagulation of the medium, electrode oxidation and/or corrosion, and changes in pH of the medium. RESULTS The most effective electrical model for reducing S. aureus adhesion was 6.5 V alternating current at 0.05 Hz achieving a 90% adhesion reduction rate. For E. coli, the 0.05 Hz frequency model also showed the most effective results with a 53% adhesion reduction rate, although these were significantly lower than S. aureus. Notable adhesion reduction rates were observed for S. aureus and E.coli in the studied conditions. However, the presence of electrode oxidation makes us presume these conditions are not optimal for in vivo use. CONCLUSION Although our findings suggest electrical currents may be useful in preventing bacterial adhesion to metal surfaces, further research using other electrical conditions must be examined to consider their use for in vivo trials.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version