Decolonizing Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies in “World Literature”: Decolonial Translation and Magical-Traumatic Realism in Can Xue

This study takes a genealogical and historicized approach to Mandarin-to-English translations, including my own, of Can Xue through neoliberal discourses of “world literature.” I ground these Anglophone discourses in the legacies of Sinology, area studies and post-Cold War historiography. Arguing for the necessity of a decolonial translation practice in Mandarin-to-English translation, I propose magical-traumatic realism (an intersection of magical realism and traumatic realism) as an alternative lens with which to contextualize, decolonize and re-embody Can Xue’s works in both source and “world” contexts

Brechemin Piano Series December 1, 2016

Concert ProgramBrechemin Piano Series December 1, 201

Brechemin Piano Series June 1, 2017

Concert ProgramConcert Program for Brechemin Piano Series June 1, 201

The serine/threonine-protein kinase/endoribonuclease IRE1α protects the heart against pressure overload–induced heart failure

Heart failure is associated with induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR). The serine/threonine protein kinase/endoribonuclease IRE1α is a key protein in ER stress signal transduction. IRE1α activity can induce both protective UPR and apoptotic downstream signaling events, but the specific role for IRE1α activity in the heart is unknown. A major aim of this study was to characterize the specific contribution of IRE1α in cardiac physiology and pathogenesis. We used both cultured myocytes and a transgenic mouse line with inducible and cardiomyocyte-specific IRE1α overexpression as experimental models to achieve targeted IRE1α activation. IRE1α expression induced a potent but transient ER stress response in cardiomyocytes and did not cause significant effects in the intact heart under normal physiological conditions. Furthermore, the IRE1α-activated transgenic heart responding to pressure overload exhibited preserved function and reduced fibrotic area, associated with increased adaptive UPR signaling and with blunted inflammatory and pathological gene expression. Therefore, we conclude that IRE1α induces transient ER stress signaling and confers a protective effect against pressure overload-induced pathological remodeling in the heart. To our knowledge, this report provides first direct evidence of a specific and protective role for IRE1α in the heart and reveals an interaction between ER stress signaling and inflammatory regulation in the pathologically stressed heart

Brechemin Piano Series April 9, 2015

Concert ProgramBrechemin Piano Series April 9, 201

Brechemin Piano Series May 4, 2017

Concert ProgramConcert Program for Brechemin Piano Series May 4, 201

Brechemin Piano Series February 12, 2015

Concert ProgramBrechemin Piano Series February 12, 201

El CEO-UAB com a dinamitzador dels estudis olímpics : testimonis d'experts internacionals que valoren el llegat del CEO-UAB

Testimonis de 15 col·laboradors acadèmics internacionals que mostren la projecció i reconeixement internacional a la tasca d'investigació i difusió del CEO-UAB al camp dels estudis olímpics.Testimonios de 15 colaboradores académicos internacionales que muestran la proyección y reconocimiento internacional a la labor de investigación y difusión del CEO-UAB en el campo de los estudios olímpicos.Testimonies of 15 international academic collaborators that show the international projection and recognition to the research work and diffusion of the CEO-UAB in the field of the Olympic studies

Association Between Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Plasma Folate Concentrations With Child Metabolic Health

IMPORTANCE Previous reports have linked maternal prepregnancy obesity with low folate concentrations and child overweight or obesity (OWO) in separate studies. To our knowledge, the role of maternal folate concentrations, alone or in combination with maternal OWO, in child metabolic health has not been examined in a prospective birth cohort. OBJECTIVE To test the hypotheses that maternal folate concentrations can significantly affect child metabolic health and that sufficient maternal folate concentrations can mitigate prepregnancy obesity-induced child metabolic risk. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This prospective birth cohort study was conducted at the Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. It included 1517 mother-child dyads recruited at birth from 1998 to 2012 and followed up prospectively up to 9 years from 2003 to 2014. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Child body mass index z score calculated according to US reference data, OWO defined as a body mass index in the 85th percentile or greater for age and sex, and metabolic biomarkers (leptin, insulin, and adiponectin). RESULTS The mean (SD) age was 28.6 (6.5) years for mothers and 6.2 (2.4) years for the children. An L-shaped association between maternal folate concentrations and child OWO was observed: the risk for OWO was higher among those in the lowest quartile (Q1) as compared with those in Q2 through Q4, with an odds ratio of 1.45 (95% CI, 1.13-1.87). The highest risk for child OWO was found among children of obese mothers with low folate concentrations (odds ratio, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.91-4.86) compared with children of normal-weight mothers with folate concentrations in Q2 through Q4 after accounting for multiple covariables. Among children of obese mothers, their risk for OWO was associated with a 43% reduction (odds ratio, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.34-0.95) if their mothers had folate concentrations in Q2 through Q4 compared with Q1. Similar patterns were observed for child metabolic biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this urban low-income prospective birth cohort, we demonstrated an L-shaped association between maternal plasma folate concentrations and child OWO and the benefit of sufficient folate concentrations, especially among obese mothers. The threshold concentration identified in this study exceeded the clinical definition of folate deficiency, which was primarily based on the hematological effect of folate. Our findings underscore the need to establish optimal rather than minimal folate concentrations for preventing adverse metabolic outcomes in the offspring.PERI grants from March of Dimes [20-FY02-56, 21-FY07-605]; National Institutes of Health [R21ES011666, R21HD066471, R01HD041702, U01AI090727, R21AI079872, R01HD086013]; Maternal and Child Health Bureau [R40MC27443]; intramural research program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of HealthSCI(E)[email protected]