Salivary immunity and lower respiratory tract infections in non-elite marathon runners

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Nuevos entornos alrededor del campus virtual ATENEA de la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña

En este artículo se describe el servicio ATENEA, campus virtual de soporte a la docencia de la UPC, en su totalidad. Con el objetivo de mejorar el servicio se han diseñado una serie de entornos destinados a cubrir algunas de las necesidades específicas detectadas. Se hace especial énfasis en la descripción de algunos de dichos entornos como la gestión de los cursos históricos (ATENEA Saurus) o el entorno de pruebas de nuevas funcionalidades (ATENEA Labs). Se ofrecen también algunos datos de utilización del campus que dan una idea de su dimensión. Finalmente se describen algunos de las últimas funcionalidades incorporadas al servicio como es el proyecto de accesibilidad de ATENEA, que permite el acceso a ATENEA de personas con discapacidad visual, o el proyecto de movilidad que permite el acceso a ATENEA mediante un dispositivo móvil.Postprint (published version

Lògiques il·lògiques

Lògiques il·lògiques és una mostra emmarcada en el projecte «Lògiques Il·lògiques: metodologies de creació artística» de Can Castells Centre d’Art i la Facultat de Belles Arts de la Universitat de Barcelona. Artistes participants: Elisabeth Gili i Barbena, Elisabet Giner i Zapata, Javier de Mendoza Soler, Anna Martínez Massó, Fayna Nieves Ramos, Pablo de los Ríos Galindo, Julieth Rodríguez Soronellas. Comissariat: Micaela Botelho, Andrea Martínez Arroyo, Julio César Ortega Solano, Rafael Romero Pineda (Direcció artística), Eulàlia Grau Costa, Joanjo Esteban Castaneda, Manuel Morales Espinosa (Gestió cultural), Joan Miquel Porquer Rigo (Edició i publicació), Laia Moretó Alvarado (Registre d’imatge). Amb la col·laboració de: Grup d’Innovació Docent Consolidat ATESI (Art, Territori, Estratègia docent, Sostenibilitat i Intervenció social, GINDOC-UB/162), Grup ApS(UB) – Facultat de Belles Arts de la Universitat de Barcelona, Equip Deganal de la Facultat de Belles Arts de Barcelona i Simina Alexandra Crisan

Poètiques de resistència/resiliència

La brutal realitat de la pandèmia i el que en deriva ens força –ens obliga– a replantejar els principis i fonaments de l’art en una societat que desapareix per moments: més que líquida, descobrim ara una societat volatilitzada, críptica, desesperada. La desigualtat que creix de manera desmesurada i el canvi climàtic, que ja es mesura en catàstrofes. Les violències, directes o estructurals, derivades de diferències mal enteses. Cada vegada més descosits, ens cal emparar-nos en valors positius i transformadors. Com a noves persones creadores, els i les artistes novells han de presentar percepcions del món que els hi ha tocat habitar –viure– amb llenguatges que adrecin aquestes problemàtiques. Amb propostes artístiques que deixin de banda prejudicis impostats, han de buscar el diàleg amb el públic per generar confluències i complicitats

Centrality in the host-pathogen interactome is associated with pathogen fitness during infection

To perform their functions proteins must interact with each other, but how these interactions influence bacterial infection remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that connectivity in the host-pathogen interactome is directly related to pathogen fitness during infection. Using Y. pestis as a model organism, we show that the centrality-lethality rule holds for pathogen fitness during infection but only when the host-pathogen interactome is considered. Our results suggest that the importance of pathogen proteins during infection is directly related to their number of interactions with the host. We also show that pathogen proteins causing an extensive rewiring of the host interactome have a higher impact in pathogen fitness during infection. Hence, we conclude that hubs in the host-pathogen interactome should be explored as promising targets for antimicrobial drug design.M.T.B. would like to acknowledge support from the Programa Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2012-09999). This study has been funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF2014-56568-R) and a Research Grant 2016 by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) both to M.T.B. N.S.d.G acknowledges support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, 'Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013-2017' and CERCA Programme from the Generalitat de Catalunya

Centrality in the host-pathogen interactome is associated with pathogen fitness during infection

Altres ajuts: 'Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013-2017' and CERCA Programme from the Generalitat de CatalunyaTo perform their functions proteins must interact with each other, but how these interactions influence bacterial infection remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that connectivity in the host-pathogen interactome is directly related to pathogen fitness during infection. Using Y. pestis as a model organism, we show that the centrality-lethality rule holds for pathogen fitness during infection but only when the host-pathogen interactome is considered. Our results suggest that the importance of pathogen proteins during infection is directly related to their number of interactions with the host. We also show that pathogen proteins causing an extensive rewiring of the host interactome have a higher impact in pathogen fitness during infection. Hence, we conclude that hubs in the host-pathogen interactome should be explored as promising targets for antimicrobial drug design. Hubs tend to be essential for function in protein networks within organisms. Here, the authors show that during infection, it is the proteins with high centrality in the Y. pestis host-pathogen interactome that are most important for pathogen fitness during infection, and highlight the importance of pathogen proteins that likely cause significant perturbation of the host interactome

Nuevos entornos alrededor del campus virtual ATENEA de la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña

En este artículo se describe el servicio ATENEA, campus virtual de soporte a la docencia de la UPC, en su totalidad. Con el objetivo de mejorar el servicio se han diseñado una serie de entornos destinados a cubrir algunas de las necesidades específicas detectadas. Se hace especial énfasis en la descripción de algunos de dichos entornos como la gestión de los cursos históricos (ATENEA Saurus) o el entorno de pruebas de nuevas funcionalidades (ATENEA Labs). Se ofrecen también algunos datos de utilización del campus que dan una idea de su dimensión. Finalmente se describen algunos de las últimas funcionalidades incorporadas al servicio como es el proyecto de accesibilidad de ATENEA, que permite el acceso a ATENEA de personas con discapacidad visual, o el proyecto de movilidad que permite el acceso a ATENEA mediante un dispositivo móvil

Salivary immunity and lower respiratory tract infections in non-elite marathon runners

Peer Reviewe

Reduced airway levels of fatty-acid binding protein 4 in COPD: relationship with airway infection and disease severity

Background: For still unclear reasons, chronic airway infection often occurs in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), particularly in those with more severe airflow limitation. Fatty-acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) is an adipokine involved in the innate immune response against infection produced by alveolar macrophages (Mɸ). We hypothesized that airway levels of FABP4 may be altered in COPD patients with chronic airway infection. Methods: In this prospective and controlled study we: (1) compared airway FABP4 levels (ELISA) in induced sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and plasma samples in 52 clinically stable COPD patients (65.2 ± 7.9 years, FEV1 59 ± 16% predicted) and 29 healthy volunteers (55.0 ± 12.3 years, FEV1 97 ± 16% predicted); (2) explored their relationship with the presence of bacterial airway infection, defined by the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria (PPB) at ≥103 colony-forming units/ml in BALF; (3) investigated their relationship with the quantity and proportion of Mɸ in BALF (flow cytometry); and, (4) studied their relationship with the severity of airflow limitation (FEV1), GOLD grade and level of symptoms (CAT questionnaire). Results: We found that: (1) airway levels of FABP4 (but not plasma ones) were reduced in COPD patients vs. controls [219.2 (96.0-319.6) vs. 273.4 (203.1-426.7) (pg/ml)/protein, p = 0.03 in BALF]; (2) COPD patients with airway infection had lower sputum FABP4 levels [0.73 (0.35-15.3) vs. 15.6 (2.0-29.4) ng/ml, p = 0.02]; (3) in COPD patients, the number and proportion of Mɸ were positively related with FABP4 levels in BALF; (4) BALF and sputum FABP4 levels were positively related with FEV1, negatively with the CAT score, and lowest in GOLD grade D patients. Conclusions: Airway FABP4 levels are reduced in COPD patients, especially in those with airway infection and more severe disease. The relationship observed between Mɸ and airway FABP4 levels supports a role for FABP4 in the pathogenesis of airway infection and disease severity in COPD