Joan Pau Xammar i Sala (c. 1593-1666) i el seu entorn. Una aproximació cultural i professional

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El proyecto educativo de un CRAE: una experiencia de construcción participativa

In 1971 the Fundació Fàtima opened a centre for children in the neighbourhood of El Carmel, and this is now a Residential Educational Action Centre (CRAE: Centre Residencial d’Acció Educativa). The extension of the age range, originally children in the 0-5 years group and then up to age 12, led to the implementation of a new model of organization and pedagogical practice, making it necessary to review and update the Centre Educational Programme (PEC: Programa Educatiu de Centre). The Centre’s management entrusted this task to the Consulting and Studies team at the Fundació Pere Tarrés, with a view to supporting the development of a document based on the reflection and the empowerment of the Centre’s educators. The PEC thus proved to be a perfect theme for initiating a participatory dynamic in the ongoing construction and reconstruction of the Educational Project of the Llar Infantil Fàtima.En 1971 la Fundación Fàtima inauguró un centro para atender a niños/as en el barrio del Carmelo. Actualmente es un Centro Residencial de Acción Educativa (CRAE). La ampliación de la franja de edad en los niños atendidos, originariamente de 0 a 5 años y posteriormente hasta los 12 años, tuvo como consecuencia la aplicación de un modelo organizativo y de práctica pedagógica, por lo que fue necesario revisar y actualizar el Programa Educativo de Centro (PEC). La Dirección de la Llar encargó esta tarea al área de Consultoría y Estudios de la Fundación Pere Tarrés, con el objetivo de dar soporte a la elaboración de un documento asentado sobre unas bases de reflexión y apoderamiento del equipo de educadores. Así, el PEC es convertiría en un eje temático perfecto para iniciar una dinámica participativa en la construcción continua del Proyecto Educativo de la Llar Infantil Fàtima

Congelación del suelo en la construcción de túneles

La congelación artificial del suelo es una técnica utilizada para la construcción de obras subterráneas como túneles, pozos u otras obras civiles dada la mejora que proporciona a las características del terreno. El comportamiento mecánico e hidráulico del suelo se ve alterado por el aumento considerable en la resistencia, rigidez e impermeabilidad que este sufre a raíz de la transformación del agua que se encuentra en el interior de los poros en hielo, ya sea total o parcialmente. Partiendo de esta base, el objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar cómo afecta este fenómeno a la respuesta del suelo ante las solicitaciones a las que este se somete como consecuencia de la construcción de un túnel en su interior. Para ello, en primer lugar se ha llevado a cabo una exhaustiva investigación en la literatura científica para encontrar un modelo que represente adecuadamente la acción del hielo en el suelo. En esta etapa del trabajo se ha desarrollado una serie de códigos en MATLAB para visualizar los resultados que proporcionaban dos de los posibles modelos, lo que ha sido clave para la elección del modelo definitivo, así como para aplicar este último al caso de estudio de este trabajo. A partir de estos resultados, se han considerado dos escenarios donde se representa el mismo acontecimiento, que es la construcción del túnel, con la diferencia de que en uno el suelo se encuentra no congelado mientras que en el otro sí lo está. De esta forma es posible estudiar el efecto de la congelación tanto durante la excavación de la galería y la construcción del revestimiento de hormigón que da forma al túnel, como durante un periodo de tiempo sucesivo al final de la construcción. El estudio de ambos casos se ha llevado a cabo mediante el programa de elementos finitos CODE BRIGHT. El análisis muestra que mediante la congelación del suelo se consigue una serie de ventajas que respaldan que la técnica de congelación puede resultar muy conveniente en ciertos escenarios.Artificial soil freezing is a technique used for the construction of underground works like tunnels, wells or other civil constructions due to the improvement that it provides to the characteristics of the ground. The mechanical and hydraulic behaviours of the soil change as consequence of the considerable increase of the resistance, stiffness and impermeability that the soil goes through as a result of the transformation of the water filling the pores into ice, either utter or partially. Starting from this basis, the objective of this thesis is to analyse how this phenomenon affects the response of the soil when undergone to the stresses it is subject to when a tunnel is constructed in its interior. To do so, firstly a thorough research in the scientific literature has been carried out in order to find a model that represents the ice effect on the soil properly. During this stage, a series of codes have been developed in MATLAB in order to visualise the results provided by two of the models, which has been a key aspect when selecting the final one, as well as on employing it on the case study of this thesis. From these results, two scenarios have been considered where the same event takes place, which is the construction of the tunnel, being the only difference between both cases that on one of them the soil is frozen whereas on the other one it is not. In this way, the effect of freezing can be studied during the excavation of the tunnel and the construction of the tunnel lining, as well as during a period of time elapsed after the end of the construction. The study of both cases has been carried out by means of the finite element programme CODE BRIGHT. The analysis shows that by freezing the soil a series of advantages are achieved, which support that artificial soil freezing might be really convenient for certain situations

Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages

Generalist and specialist species differ in the breadth of their ecological niches. Little is known about the niche width of obligate human pathogens. Here we analyzed a global collection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 clinical isolates, the most geographically widespread cause of human tuberculosis. We show that lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages, suggesting a distinction between generalists and specialists. Population genomic analyses showed that, whereas the majority of human T cell epitopes were conserved in all sublineages, the proportion of variable epitopes was higher in generalists. Our data further support a European origin for the most common generalist sublineage. Hence, the global success of lineage 4 reflects distinct strategies adopted by different sublineages and the influence of human migration

Tuberculosis in Swiss captive Asian elephants: microevolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis characterized by multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis and whole-genome sequencingle-number tandem-repeat analysis and whole-genome sequencing

Zoonotic tuberculosis is a risk for human health, especially when animals are in close contact with humans. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from several organs, including lung tissue and gastric mucosa, of three captive elephants euthanized in a Swiss zoo. The elephants presented weight loss, weakness and exercise intolerance. Molecular characterization of the M. tuberculosis isolates by spoligotyping revealed an identical profile, suggesting a single source of infection. Multilocus variable-number of tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) elucidated two divergent populations of bacteria and mixed infection in one elephant, suggesting either different transmission chains or prolonged infection over time. A total of eight M. tuberculosis isolates were subjected to whole-genome sequence (WGS) analysis, confirming a single source of infection and indicating the route of transmission between the three animals. Our findings also show that the methods currently used for epidemiological investigations of M. tuberculosis infections should be carefully applied on isolates from elephants. Moreover the importance of multiple sampling and analysis of within-host mycobacterial clonal populations for investigations of transmission is demonstrated

Analizar el derecho a la asignación compensatoria de futuro cuando el salario de uno de los excónyuges depende de la empresa titularidad del otro

Dictamen elaborado con el objeto de analizar la posibilidad de solicitar el derecho a la asignación compensatoria de futuro en un proceso de divorcio cuando el salario de uno de los excónyuges depende de la empresa titularidad del otro.<br /

Genomic analysis of Mycobacterium brumae sustains its nonpathogenic and immunogenic phenotype

Mycobacterium brumae is a rapid-growing, non-pathogenic Mycobacterium species, originally isolated from environmental and human samples in Barcelona, Spain. Mycobacterium brumae is not pathogenic and it's in vitro phenotype and immunogenic properties have been well characterized. However, the knowledge of its underlying genetic composition is still incomplete. In this study, we first describe the 4 Mb genome of the M. brumae type strain ATCC 51384T assembling PacBio reads, and second, we assess the low intraspecies variability by comparing the type strain with Illumina reads from three additional strains. Mycobacterium brumae genome is composed of a circular chromosome with a high GC content of 69.2% and containing 3,791 CDSs, 97 pseudogenes, one prophage and no CRISPR loci. Mycobacterium brumae has shown no pathogenic potential in in vivo experiments, and our genomic analysis confirms its phylogenetic position with other non-pathogenic and rapid growing mycobacteria. Accordingly, we determined the absence of virulence-related genes, such as ESX-1 locus and most PE/PPE genes, among others. Although the immunogenic potential of M. brumae was proved to be as high as Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the only mycobacteria licensed to treat cancer, the genomic content of M. tuberculosis T cell and B cell antigens in M. brumae genome is considerably lower than those antigens present in M. bovis BCG genome. Overall, this work provides relevant genomic data on one of the species of the mycobacterial genus with high therapeutic potential

Genomic Epidemiology of Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis During Transcontinental Spread

The transcontinental spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis is poorly characterized in molecular epidemiologic studies. We used genomic sequencing to understand the establishment and dispersion of MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis within a group of immigrants to the United States. We used a genomic epidemiology approach to study a genotypically matched (by spoligotype, IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism, and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeat signature) lineage 2/Beijing MDR strain implicated in an outbreak of tuberculosis among refugees in Thailand and consecutive cases within California. All 46 MDR M. tuberculosis genomes from both Thailand and California were highly related, with a median difference of 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The Wat Tham Krabok (WTK) strain is a new sequence type distinguished from all known Beijing strains by 55 SNPs and a genomic deletion (Rv1267c) associated with increased fitness. Sequence data revealed a highly prevalent MDR strain that included several closely related but distinct allelic variants within Thailand, rather than the occurrence of a single outbreak. In California, sequencing data supported multiple independent introductions of WTK with subsequent transmission and reactivation within the state, as well as a potential super spreader with a prolonged infectious period. Twenty-seven drug resistance-conferring mutations and 4 putative compensatory mutations were found within WTK strains. Genomic sequencing has substantial epidemiologic value in both low- and high-burden settings in understanding transmission chains of highly prevalent MDR strain

Tracking a Tuberculosis Outbreak Over 21 Years: Strain-Specific Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Typing Combined With Targeted Whole-Genome Sequencing

Background. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly used in molecular-epidemiological investigations of bacterial pathogens, despite cost- and time-intensive analyses. We combined strain-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing and targeted WGS to investigate a tuberculosis cluster spanning 21 years in Bern, Switzerland. Methods. On the basis of genome sequences of 3 historical outbreak Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, we developed a strain-specific SNP-typing assay to identify further cases. We screened 1642 patient isolates and performed WGS on all identified cluster isolates. We extracted SNPs to construct genomic networks. Clinical and social data were retrospectively collected. Results. We identified 68 patients associated with the outbreak strain. Most received a tuberculosis diagnosis in 1991-1995, but cases were observed until 2011. Two thirds were homeless and/or substance abusers. Targeted WGS revealed 133 variable SNP positions among outbreak isolates. Genomic network analyses suggested a single origin of the outbreak, with subsequent division into 3 subclusters. Isolates from patients with confirmed epidemiological links differed by 0-11 SNPs. Conclusions. Strain-specific SNP genotyping allowed rapid and inexpensive identification of M. tuberculosis outbreak isolates in a population-based strain collection. Subsequent targeted WGS provided detailed insights into transmission dynamics. This combined approach could be applied to track bacterial pathogens in real time and at high resolutio