Literatura colaborativa: fans, fandoms y fanfictions

Entre los objetivos de este trabajo se encuentra el de definir el término fanfiction o fanfic. Fan es un elemento clave ya que es el sujeto fundamental para que se dé este fenómeno literario. De esta forma, será preciso no sólo definir este término sino también el de fan y el propio término de ficción, así como el resto de términos relacionados con estos: fandom, canon o fanon entre otras. Dentro de la problemática del uso de la palabra fan en este contexto debido a su doble papel como escritores y lectores simultáneamente. Esto nos lleva a plantear también el tipo de relación existente entre autor y lector. Desde la aparición de internet, la comunicación entre creadores y consumidores ha cambiado, el acceso libre a plataformas dedicadas exclusivamente a este tipo de textos permite un intercambio casi inmediato. En este trabajo se tratará precisamente este aspecto, esto es, cómo esta comunicación puede afectar al texto. Este trabajo seguirá la siguiente estructura con el objetivo de dar respuesta a las cuestiones planteadas anteriormente. En el apartado de metodología presentaré la perspectiva que se va a seguir en el trabajo, la sociología de la recepción, también haré mención de los libros y artículos que he utilizado en este aspecto para la construcción del marco teórico.Universidad de Granada. Grado en Literaturas Comparadas. Curso 2019-202

Influencia de la música en la comunicación de personas con parálisis cerebral

Se han llevado a cabo estudios sobre cómo influyen tratamientos de voz en los aspectos comunicativos de las personas con parálisis cerebral (PC). Hay también iniciativas de música en las que se emplea esta misma como terapia en personas con PC, por ejemplo como danza, además de talleres de música con otros fines, no necesariamente terapéuticos. En este trabajo, pretendo observar y analizar los comportamientos de los pacientes con PC y cómo la música influye en dichas habilidades comunicativas, tales como voz, habla o lenguaje. En este estudio, llevé a cabo investigaciones sobre la bibliografía ya existente para posteriormente analizar y extraer conclusiones. Respecto a la tarea de observación en personas afectadas de PC, tuve la oportunidad de formar parte de un grupo, en la realización de talleres de música en el centro ASPACE (Asociación de Padres y tutores de Personas con Parálisis Cerebral y afines de Valladolid). En esta actividad, primeramente realicé una simple observación y posteriormente una participación activa. A esta terapia, acudieron psicólogos, músicos y otros estudiantes. Asimismo, mi periodo de prácticas en el Centro Obregón de Valladolid permitió que me interesara por la PC y el tipo de intervenciones que se empleaban con estos pacientes. Como conclusión, pude observar que, durante los talleres de música, ésta a menudo contribuía a mejorar considerablemente las habilidades comunicativas de los pacientes. Los pacientes que presentaban un habla ininteligible, la mejoraron de forma evidente, al cantar o coordinarla con música. Además, la música puede beneficiar a personas con voz ronca, teniendo en cuenta que su voz se suaviza durante la imitación de voces con tonos determinados.LogopediaGrado en Logopedi

Harry Potter: de la novela a la pantalla

El presente Trabajo Fin de Máster muestra un análisis de cómo se han efectuado las adaptaciones cinematográficas de los dos primeros libros de la saga Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling, 1997) y Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets (Rowling, 1998) en las películas homónimas Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Columbus, 2001) y Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets (Columbus, 2002). Se han extraído las referencias culturales correspondientes a la saga durante la lectura de los libros. Éstas se han clasificado en cinco categorías (topónimos, alimentos/objetos mágicos, identidad mágica, nombres propios y juegos de palabras) basándose en la clasificación de Rodríguez (2001) de referencias culturales en traducción audiovisual. Posteriormente, se han analizado las traducciones de dichas referencias culturales en español y francés para comprobar si se producen cambios en las mismas. De manera análoga se ha comparado el doblaje con el subtitulado correspondiente en cada una de las dos lenguas meta (francés y español) y la banda sonora original (en inglés) con sus subtitulados correspondientes en el momento de enunciación de dichas referencias culturales (es decir en su contexto). De este modo, se ha podido observar los eventuales cambios. Con la información que se ha extraído de la comparación, se ha analizado qué técnica de traducción se ha aplicado desde la lengua origen a las lenguas metas en las novelas, las bandas sonoras y los subtitulados.Máster en Traducción Profesional e Instituciona

Long-Term Systemic Expression of a Novel PD-1 Blocking Nanobody from an AAV Vector Provides Antitumor Activity without Toxicity

Immune checkpoint blockade using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) able to block programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 axis represents a promising treatment for cancer. However, it requires repetitive systemic administration of high mAbs doses, often leading to adverse effects. We generated a novel nanobody against PD-1 (Nb11) able to block PD-1/PD-L1 interaction for both mouse and human molecules. Nb11 was cloned into an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector downstream of four different promoters (CMV, CAG, EF1α, and SFFV) and its expression was analyzed in cells from rodent (BHK) and human origin (Huh-7). Nb11 was expressed at high levels in vitro reaching 2–20 micrograms/mL with all promoters, except SFFV, which showed lower levels. Nb11 in vivo expression was evaluated in C57BL/6 mice after intravenous administration of AAV8 vectors. Nb11 serum levels increased steadily along time, reaching 1–3 microgram/mL two months post-treatment with the vector having the CAG promoter (AAV-CAG-Nb11), without evidence of toxicity. To test the antitumor potential of this vector, mice that received AAV-CAG-Nb11, or saline as control, were challenged with colon adenocarcinoma cells (MC38). AAV-CAG-Nb11 treatment prevented tumor formation in 30% of mice, significantly increasing survival. These data suggest that continuous expression of immunomodulatory nanobodies from long-term expression vectors could have antitumor effects with low toxicity

CD4+/CD25+ regulatory cells inhibit activation of tumor-primed CD4+ T cells with IFN-gamma-dependent antiangiogenic activity, as well as long-lasting tumor immunity elicited by peptide vaccination

CD25(+) regulatory T (T reg) cells suppress the activation/proliferation of other CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cells in vitro. Also, down-regulation of CD25(+) T reg cells enhance antitumor immune responses. In this study, we show that depletion of CD25(+) T reg cells allows the host to induce both CD4(+) and CD8(+) antitumoral responses following tumor challenge. Simultaneous depletion of CD25(+) and CD8(+) cells, as well as adoptive transfer experiments, revealed that tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells, which emerged in the absence of CD25(+) T reg cells, were able to reject CT26 colon cancer cells, a MHC class II-negative tumor. The antitumoral effect mediated by CD4(+) T cells was dependent on IFN-gamma production, which exerted a potent antiangiogenic activity. The capacity of the host to mount this antitumor response is lost once the number of CD25(+) T reg cells is restored over time. However, CD25(+) T reg cell depletion before immunization with AH1 (a cytotoxic T cell determinant from CT26 tumor cells) permits the induction of a long-lasting antitumoral immune response, not observed if immunization is conducted in the presence of regulatory cells. A study of the effect of different levels of depletion of CD25(+) T reg cells before immunization with the peptide AH1 alone, or in combination with a Th determinant, unraveled that Th cells play an important role in overcoming the suppressive effect of CD25(+) T reg on the induction of long-lasting cellular immune responses

Evaluation of a Salmonella strain lacking the secondary messenger C-di-GMP and RpoS as a live oral vaccine

Salmonellosis is one of the most important bacterial zoonotic diseases transmitted through the consumption of contaminated food, with chicken and pig related products being key reservoirs of infection. Although numerous studies on animal vaccination have been performed in order to reduce Salmonella prevalence, there is still a need for an ideal vaccine. Here, with the aim of constructing a novel live attenuated Salmonella vaccine candidate, we firstly analyzed the impact of the absence of cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP) in Salmonella virulence. Cdi- GMP is an intracellular second messenger that controls a wide range of bacterial processes, including biofilm formation and synthesis of virulence factors, and also modulates the host innate immune response. Our results showed that a Salmonella multiple mutant in the twelve genes encoding diguanylate cyclase proteins that, as a consequence, cannot synthesize c-di-GMP, presents a moderate attenuation in a systemic murine infection model. An additional mutation of the rpoS gene resulted in a synergic attenuating effect that led to a highly attenuated strain, referred to as ΔXIII, immunogenic enough to protect mice against a lethal oral challenge of a S. Typhimurium virulent strain. ΔXIII immunogenicity relied on activation of both antibody and cell mediated immune responses characterized by the production of opsonizing antibodies and the induction of significant levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, IL-17 and IL-10. ΔXIII was unable to form a biofilm and did not survive under desiccation conditions, indicating that it could be easily eliminated from the environment. Moreover, ΔXIII shows DIVA features that allow differentiation of infected and vaccinated animals. Altogether, these results show ΔXIII as a safe and effective live DIVA vaccine.SB is a predoctoral fellow from the Public University of Navarra. CG and BG are recipients of a postdoctoral contract under Grants IIM 13329.RI1 and BIO2011-30503-C02-02, respectively. This work was supported by grant IIM 13329.RI1 from the Departamento de Innovación, Empresa y Empleo, Government of Navarra and grants BIO2011-30503-C02-02 and BIO2014-53530-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.Peer Reviewe

Cellular immunity to hepatitis C virus core protein and the response to interferon in patients with chronic hepatitis C

To investigate the involvement of T-cell response against hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigens in viral clearance after interferon therapy, we measured interleukin-2 (IL-2) production by peripheral mononuclear cells in response to HCV core in patients with chronic hepatitis C. In a cohort of 43 patients, we investigated the frequency of circulating core-specific T-helper (Th) cell precursors by the limiting-dilution assay, and in a second cohort of 60 patients, we analyzed the response to specific core epitopes using 52 synthetic 15-mer overlapping peptides. We observed that the frequency of core-specific Th cell precursors was significantly higher in patients with sustained biochemical and virological response (SR) after interferon (IFN) therapy (median, 1/55,736) than in untreated patients (1/274,023) or that in patients who remained viremic after completion of the treatment-nonresponders (NR) plus transient responders (TR) (1/1,909,972). Patients who failed to respond to IFN (NR) and those who relapsed after IFN discontinuation (TR) had a similarly low number of precursors. The number of core peptides recognized by SR, TR, NR, UT, and healthy controls was 8.2 +/- 1.5, 6.5 +/- 1.2, 2.0 +/- 0.5, 2.7 +/- 0.9, and 0.3 +/- 0.2, respectively. In SR, the intensity of the proliferative response to core peptides as estimated by the summation of stimulation indexes (sigmaSI) was significantly higher than in NR and than in UT, but not different from that of TR. Our results indicate that both expansion of HCV-specific Th cell precursors and Th cell recognition of multiple core epitopes seem to be important in the elimination of HCV after IFN therapy

Hydraulic fracture during epithelial stretching

The origin of fracture in epithelial cell sheets subject to stretch is commonly attributed to excess tension in the cells' cytoskeleton, in the plasma membrane, or in cell-cell contacts. Here, we demonstrate that for a variety of synthetic and physiological hydrogel substrates the formation of epithelial cracks is caused by tissue stretching independently of epithelial tension. We show that the origin of the cracks is hydraulic; they result from a transient pressure build-up in the substrate during stretch and compression manoeuvres. After pressure equilibration, cracks heal readily through actomyosin-dependent mechanisms. The observed phenomenology is captured by the theory of poroelasticity, which predicts the size and healing dynamics of epithelial cracks as a function of the stiffness, geometry and composition of the hydrogel substrate. Our findings demonstrate that epithelial integrity is determined in a tension-independent manner by the coupling between tissue stretching and matrix hydraulics.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Immunization with a tumor-associated CTL epitope plus a tumor-related or unrelated Th1 helper peptide elicits protective CTL immunity

Immunization with cytotoxic T cell epitope SPSYVYHQF (AH1), derived from MuLV gp70 envelope protein expressed by CT26 tumor cells, does not protect BALB/c mice against challenge with CT26 tumor cells. By contrast, immunization with AH1 plus T helper peptides OVA(323-337) or SWM(106-118) eliciting Th1 and Th0 profiles, protected 83% and 33% of mice, respectively. Interestingly, immunization with AH1 plus both helper peptides reverted the efficacy to 33%. We identified the endogenous T helper peptide p(320-333) from gp70 which elicits a Th1 profile and is naturally processed. As for OVA(323-337), immunization with p(320-333) alone did not protect against tumor challenge. However, p(320-333) plus AH1 protected 89% of mice at day 10 after vaccination. Only 20% of mice vaccinated with AH1 + OVA(323-337) or AH1 + p(320-333) were protected when challenged 80 days after immunization. Treatment with OVA(323-337) or with p(320-333) around established tumors delayed tumor growth. Our results show that tumor-related as well as tumor-unrelated but strong Th1 peptides may be useful for inducing CTL responses in tumor immunotherapy