Barcelona Supercomputing Center: Science accelerator and producer of innovation

Supercomputing has become an accelerator; its use is now essential in almost all scientific disciplines. Established a little more than ten years ago, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) provides computing services for the European scientific community, carries out in-depth research in different fields, collaborates with multiple research centers and develops technologies for different sectors of society. Based on its capabilities and the skills of the responsible team, the BSC is planning to enlarge both its facilities and its penetration into the scientific and industrial communities as one of the most powerful tools to develop complex research

Procés d’integració dels programes de formació permanent de Postgrau de la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya a l'Espai Europeu d'Educació Superior

Projecte presentat al 3r Premi a la Qualitat de la Gestió Universitària, convocat pel Consell Social de la UP

La recerca a Catalunya en el context europeu. L’exit d’una anomalia feta model

En el número 50 de la revista L'Espill trobaràs un dossier monogràfic sobre "La crisi europea. Europa com a idea i com a projecte, avui", amb contribucions d'Adam Zagajewski, Joan F. Mira, Antoni Mora, Marina Garcés, Simona Škrabec, Andrei Kurkov, Antoni Martí Monterde, Enzo Traverso, Wolf Lepenies, Robert Menasse, Josep Maria Terricabras, Manuel Sanchis, Estanislau Vidal-Folch, Sebastian Landschbauer, Étienne Balibar, Ulrike Guérot, Josep Maria Martorell, Montserrat Daban, Francesc Xavier Grau i Josep Lluís Gómez Mompart. A més, una enquesta d'Adolf Beltran sobre el present i el futur d'Europa i dos documents, de Joan Fuster i de Vicent Ventura

Antropología y enfermería

Este volumen está organizado en bloques temáticos. El primero versa sobre salud reproductiva e infantil y contiene un texto inédito de Dina Garcés, homenajeada en este libro, que revisaba cuando le sorprendió la muerte. Le siguen un segundo bloque sobre alimentación, un tercero sobre salud mental y drogas y un cuarto sobre problemas relativos al envejecimiento. Una quinta parte incluye textos que relacionan la ética, las ciencias sociales y de la salud y la religión. Cierra el volumen un apartado de miscelánea

Electric field control of exchange bias in multiferroic epitaxial heterostructures

The magnetic exchange bias between epitaxial thin films of the multiferroic (antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric) hexagonal YMnO3 oxide and a soft ferromagnetic (FM) layer is used to couple the magnetic response of the ferromagnetic layer to the magnetic state of the antiferromagnetic one. We will show that biasing the ferroelectric YMnO3 layer by an appropriate electric field allows modifying and controlling the magnetic exchange bias and subsequently the magnetotransport properties of the FM layer. This finding may contribute to pave the way towards a new generation of electric-field controlled spintronics devices.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitte

Donor/Recipient HLA Molecular Mismatch Scores Predict Primary Humoral and Cellular Alloimmunity in Kidney Transplantation

Donor/recipient molecular human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatch predicts primary B-cell alloimmune activation, yet the impact on de novo donor-specific T-cell alloimmunity (dnDST) remains undetermined. The hypothesis of our study is that donor/recipient HLA mismatches assessed at the molecular level may also influence a higher susceptibility to the development of posttransplant primary T-cell alloimmunity. In this prospective observational study, 169 consecutive kidney transplant recipients without preformed donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and with high resolution donor/recipient HLA typing were evaluated for HLA molecular mismatch scores using different informatic algorithms [amino acid mismatch, eplet MM, and Predicted Indirectly Recognizable HLA Epitopes (PIRCHE-II)]. Primary donor-specific alloimmune activation over the first 2 years posttransplantation was assessed by means of both dnDSA and dnDST using single antigen bead (SAB) and IFN-γ ELISPOT assays, respectively. Also, the predominant alloantigen presenting pathway priming DST alloimmunity and the contribution of main alloreactive T-cell subsets were further characterized in vitro. Pretransplantation, 78/169 (46%) were DST+ whereas 91/169 (54%) DST-. At 2 years, 54/169 (32%) patients showed detectable DST responses: 23/54 (42%) dnDST and 31/54 (57%) persistently positive (persistDST+). 24/169 (14%) patients developed dnDSA. A strong correlation was observed between the three distinct molecular mismatch scores and they all accurately predicted dnDSA formation, in particular at the DQ locus. Likewise, HLA molecular incompatibility predicted the advent of dnDST, especially when assessed by PIRCHE-II score (OR 1.014 95% CI 1.001-1.03, p=0.04). While pretransplant DST predicted the development of posttransplant BPAR (OR 5.18, 95% CI=1.64-16.34, p=0.005) and particularly T cell mediated rejection (OR 5.33, 95% CI=1.45-19.66, p=0.012), patients developing dnDST were at significantly higher risk of subsequent dnDSA formation (HR 2.64, 95% CI=1.08-6.45, p=0.03). In vitro experiments showed that unlike preformed DST that is predominantly primed by CD8+ direct pathway T cells, posttransplant DST may also be activated by the indirect pathway of alloantigen presentation, and predominantly driven by CD4+ alloreactive T cells in an important proportion of patients. De novo donor-specific cellular alloreactivity seems to precede subsequent humoral alloimmune activation and is influenced by a poor donor/recipient HLA molecular matching