Persistencias, novedades y ausencias en el campo comunicacional argentino: Un análisis por los programas académicos

En este artículo nos proponemos realizar un meta-análisis del propio campo comunicacional argentino a partir de la indagación de los programas académicos de las carreras de Ciencias de la Comunicación de las universidades públicas argentinas. Los programas constituyen una síntesis de procesos de selección y jerarquización de perspectivas o enfoques, disciplinas, marcos teóricos, autores y bibliografía. Un análisis pormenorizado sobre estos aspectos nos permitirá acceder a una caracterización del campo comunicacional desde el subcampo educativo. Específicamente nos interesa analizar los programas correspondientes a las siguientes asignaturas: Semiótica, Estudios Culturales (EE.CC) y Políticas de comunicación y Economía política. Más allá de la designación con que figuren en los planes de estudio de cada universidad, entendemos que éstas representan las principales áreas de investigación y enseñanza del campo de la comunicación, al mismo tiempo que constituyen las tres tradiciones investigativas de los estudios de comunicación tanto en la Argentina como en América Latina.In this article we propose to carry out a meta-analysis of the Argentine communication field itself based on the investigation of the academic programs of the Communication Sciences degree programs in Argentine public universities. The programs constitute a synthesis of the process of selection and hierarchy of perspectives or approaches, disciplines, theoretical framesssssssssssworks, authors and bibliography. A detailed analysis of these aspects will allow us to access a characterization of the communication field. Specifically we are interested in analyzing the programs corresponding to the following subjects: Semiotics, Cultural Studies, and Communication policies and political economy. Beyond the designation with which they appear in the curricula of each University, we understand that they represent the main areas of research and teaching in the field of communication, while constituting the three investigative traditions of communication studies both in the Argentina as in Latin America.Fil: Heram, Yamila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; ArgentinaFil: Gándara, Santiago. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Di Marzo, Bruno. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Belardo, Marina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Herrera, Sebastian. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Pelle, María. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Isaurralde, Rocío. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; Argentin

PKC Theta Ablation Improves Healing in a Mouse Model of Muscular Dystrophy

Inflammation is a key pathological characteristic of dystrophic muscle lesion formation, limiting muscle regeneration and resulting in fibrotic and fatty tissue replacement of muscle, which exacerbates the wasting process in dystrophic muscles. Limiting immune response is thus one of the therapeutic options to improve healing, as well as to improve the efficacy of gene- or cell-mediated strategies to restore dystrophin expression. Protein kinase C θ (PKCθ) is a member of the PKCs family highly expressed in both immune cells and skeletal muscle; given its crucial role in adaptive, but also innate, immunity, it is being proposed as a valuable pharmacological target for immune disorders. In our study we asked whether targeting PKCθ could represent a valuable approach to efficiently prevent inflammatory response and disease progression in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy. We generated the bi-genetic mouse model mdx/θ−/−, where PKCθ expression is lacking in mdx mice, the mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We found that muscle wasting in mdx/θ−/− mice was greatly prevented, while muscle regeneration, maintenance and performance was significantly improved, as compared to mdx mice. This phenotype was associated to reduction in inflammatory infiltrate, pro-inflammatory gene expression and pro-fibrotic markers activity, as compared to mdx mice. Moreover, BM transplantation experiments demonstrated that the phenotype observed was primarily dependent on lack of PKCθ expression in hematopoietic cells

O renascimento de uma cultura perdida

Tradução de: *In: Le corps en jeu. Dir. O. ASLAN. Paris: CNRS Editions, 1993. 1ª ed

Neural processing of hyper-and hypo-articulated vowels in Infant-Directed Speech

When addressing infants, adults use a speech register known as infant-directed speech (IDS). Compared to adult-directed speech (ADS), IDS has a number of distinctive acoustic and linguistic features. Vowel hyperarticulation, the expansion of the acoustic space between the corner vowels /i,u,a/, is one feature specifically proposed to facilitate language acquisition processes. Interestingly, the presence of vowel hyperarticulation in IDS appears to be dependent on the infant’s communicative and linguistic needs. Mothers do not hyperarticulate vowels in IDS to infants with hearing loss (Lam & Kitamura, 2010) or infants at-risk for dyslexia (Kalashnikova et al., 2018), indicating that infants’ ability to hear and process speech can influence speakers’ IDS to them. Given the important role of vowel hyperarticulation in early language acquisition, it is of interest to investigate the effects of IDS with hypo-articulated vowels on infants’ early linguistic processing.This study investigated whether there is a neurophysiological difference in the processing of hyper- and hypo-articulated vowels in IDS by comparing the electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures of typical IDS with hyperarticulated vowels (hyper-IDS), IDS that lacks vowel hyperarticulation (hypo-IDS), and ADS in 9 month-old-infants (N = 12). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while infants listened to familiar words in hyper-IDS, hypo-IDS, and ADS registers. If hyper-IDS facilitates infants’ early lexical processing, we expected it to elicit a different pattern in brain potentials compared to hypo-IDS and ADS.Regarding electrophysiological measures, mean amplitudes were calculated in the 250-500ms time window measured from word onset, since ERP amplitudes in this window have been proposed to reflect increased semantic processing (Kidd et al., 2018; Zangl & Mills, 2007). A Speech (hyper-IDS, hypo-IDS, ADS) x Antpost (frontal, central, parietal, occipital) x Laterality (left, right) ANOVA yielded a main effect of Speech (F(2, 22) = 7.054, p = .004, p2 = .391) and Speech x Antpost x Laterality interaction (F(6, 66) = 2.771, p = .018, p2 = .201), meaning that the factor Speech interacted with topographical factors. Hypo-IDS was found to elicit a broadly distributed negativity compared to hyper-IDS and ADS respectively, which gave rise to more positive amplitudes in the same time window. Taken together, these results suggest a decrease in lexical processing for hypo-IDS.These findings indicate different brain responses to IDS with and without vowel hyperarticulation in early language processing, supporting the assumption that vowel hyperarticulation in IDS influences infants’ early linguistic processing. Given that early brain potentials occurring at 200-500ms have previously been suggested to reflect increased lexical or semantic processing, these findings indicate that infants are sensitive to the specific acoustic qualities of IDS, which facilitate semantic processing (Junge et al., 2014). Importantly, the current findings demonstrate that IDS with hyperarticulated vowels provides infants with a rich linguistic signal. When hyperarticulation is absent, lexical processing appears to be impeded. This is an especially important insight with regard to infants with hearing loss who do not have access to this feature in IDS, but who may instead rely more on other perceptual advantages offered by this register

Cyanine Dyes for Photo-Thermal Therapy: A Comparison of Synthetic Liposomes and Natural Erythrocyte-Based Carriers

Cyanine fluorescent dyes are attractive diagnostic or therapeutic agents due to their excellent optical properties. However, in free form, their use in biological applications is limited due to the short circulation time, instability, and toxicity. Therefore, their encapsulation into nano-carriers might help overcome the above-mentioned issues. In addition to indocyanine green (ICG), which is clinically approved and therefore the most widely used fluorescent dye, we tested the structurally similar and cheaper alternative called IR-820. Both dyes were encapsulated into liposomes. However, due to the synthetic origin of liposomes, they can induce an immunogenic response. To address this challenge, we proposed to use erythrocyte membrane vesicles (EMVs) as “new era” nano-carriers for cyanine dyes. The optical properties of both dyes were investigated in different biological relevant media. Then, the temperature stability and photo-stability of dyes in free form and encapsulated into liposomes and EMVs were evaluated. Nano-carriers efficiently protected dyes from thermal degradation, as well as from photo-induced degradation. Finally, a hemotoxicity study revealed that EMVs seem less hemotoxic dye carriers than clinically approved liposomes. Herein, we showed that EMVs exhibit great potential as nano-carriers for dyes with improved stability and hemocompatibility without losing excellent optical properties

Lack of PKCθ in <i>mdx</i> mice improves muscle regeneration.

<p>(<b>A</b>) eMyHC immunofluorescence (green) in TA cryosections derived from <i>mdx</i> (<b>a</b> and <b>d</b>) and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (<b>b</b> and <b>e</b>) mice, as indicated. Merge with EBD uptake (red) is shown in <b>d</b> (<i>mdx</i>) and <b>e</b> (.<i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>). Bar = 200 µm. Extension of regenerating, eMyHC^+ve, area (<b>c</b>) and of necrotic, EBD^+ve, area (<b>f</b>) in <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>, expressed as the percentage in respect to the respective areas in <i>mdx</i> (assumed as 1); *<i>p<0.01</i>, n = 3/genotype. Bar = 200 µm. (<b>B</b>) Representative Western Blot analysis of total protein fraction of TA muscles derived from 2 mo old WT, <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated, incubated with the α-myogenin antibody; Red Ponceau staining of the membrane is shown for equal loading. Up-regulation of myogenin expression in <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>, in respect to <i>mdx</i> (assumed as 1), muscles, as determined by densitometric analysis of three independent experiments is shown in the bottom (n = 3/genotype) (<b>C</b>) Representative Wright staining of <i>mdx</i>- and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>- muscle derived cells, as indicated, cultured in DM for 48 hrs. The mean number of nuclei contained within each myotube is shown, as well as the percentage of reduction in <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> in respect to <i>mdx</i>, as determined from three independent experiments.</p

Lack of PKCθ in <i>mdx</i> mice reduces cell infiltrate in muscle.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Hematoxylin/Eosin staining of TA crysosections derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> (<b>a, c</b>) and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (<b>b, d</b>). The insets in <b>a</b> and <b>b</b> indicate the areas shown in <b>c</b> and <b>d</b>, respectively, at higher magnification; bar = 100 µm. (<b>B</b>) Myofiber variability coefficient in TA muscles derived from 2 mo old WT, <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>, determined as described in the material and methods sections. (n = 3/genotype). (<b>C</b>) Percentage of centrally nucleated myofibers in TA muscles derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>, expressed as percentage over the total number of myofibers (n = 3/genotype). (<b>D</b>) Esterase histochemical staining of TA cryosections derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated. Arrows indicate cell infiltrates, arrows indicate neuromuscular junctions. Bar = 200 µm (<b>E</b>) FACS analysis of CD45^+ve/Mac3^+ve mononucleated cells isolated from TA muscle derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated, expressed as percentage of the total number of cells examined. The percentage of reduction in <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>muscle, in respect to <i>mdx</i>, is also shown (n = 3/genotype). (<b>F</b>) Gel zymography of MMP9 activity in TA muscle derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated; media collected from differentiating muscle cell cultures was used as positive control (+).</p

Lack of PKCθ in <i>mdx</i> mice reduces muscle degeneration.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Representative western blot analysis of total protein fraction of TA muscles derived from 2 mo old WT, PKCθ^−/−, <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated. The blot was incubated with the indicated primary antibodies. GAPDH expression level is shown in the bottom for equal loading. PKCθ activation in muscle derived from <i>mdx</i> (black bar) mice, expressed as fold induction in respect to WT (white bar, assumed as 1), is shown as the ratio of pPKCθ/PKCθ (right panel), as determined by densitometric analysis from three independent experiments (*<i>p<0.05</i>). (<b>B</b>) EBD uptake in diaphragm derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> or <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated, shown under light (<b>a, c</b>) and epifluorescence (<b>b, d</b>) microscopy. (<b>C</b>) EBD uptake in TA muscle derived from 2 mo old <i>mdx</i> (<b>a</b>) or <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (<b>b</b>) mice, as indicated; immunofluorescence analysis of IgG accumulation in <i>mdx</i> (<b>c</b>) or <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (<b>d</b>) mice; bar = 200 µm. (<b>D</b>) Mononuclear cells accumulation, revealed as Hoechst staining, around single degenerating fiber, detected as EBD uptake (<b>a–b</b>) and IgG immunofluorescence (<b>c–d</b>), in TA muscles from <i>mdx</i> (<b>a</b> and <b>c</b>) or <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (<b>b</b> and <b>d</b>). (<b>E</b>) Representative western Blot analysis of IgG accumulation in TA muscles from <i>mdx</i> or <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> (two mice/genotype), as indicated. Densitometric analysis is shown in the bottom (<i>mdx</i>, black bar; <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i>, grey bar, *<i>p<0.05</i>).</p

Rescue of PKCθ expression in hematopoietic cells in <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, by bone marrow transplantation.

<p>(<b>A</b>) PCR analysis of BM cell suspension genomic DNA derived from <i>mdx/θ^{−/−BMmdx/θ−/−}</i> and from <i>mdx/θ^−/−BMmdx</i>, as indicated. The reappearance of the 400 kb PCR product from the PKCθ gene in <i>mdx/θ^−/−BMmdx</i> is shown. (<b>B</b>) Western Blot analysis of PKCθ, PKCδ and PKCα expression in total protein extract from thymi derived from <i>mdx/θ^{−/−BM mdx/θ−/−}</i> and from <i>mdx/θ^−/−BMmdx</i>. (<b>C</b>) Immunofluorescence analysis of PKCθ-expressing cells (green) in the spleens derived from <i>mdx/θ^{−/−BMmdx/θ−/−}</i> and from <i>mdx/θ^−/−BMmdx</i>. Hoechst was used to counterstain the nuclei (blue).</p

Lack of PKCθ in <i>mdx</i> mice prevents up-regulation of pro-inflammatory pathways.

<p>Left panel: representative Western Blot analysis of total protein fraction of TA muscles derived from 2 mo old WT, <i>mdx</i> and <i>mdx/θ^−/−</i> mice, as indicated. The blot was incubated with the anti- p-NF-kB p65, NF-kB p65, - p-JNK, - JNK antibodies, as indicated. GAPDH level of expression was used for normalization. The p-p65NFkB/p65NFkB (top) and of p-JNK/JNK (both p46 and p54) (bottom) ratio, as determined by densitometric analysis from three independent experiments, is shown in the right, expressed as fold induction in respect to WT (assumed as 1, dotted line). *<i>p<0.01</i> in respect to WT.</p