Macrophages in endocrine glands, with emphasis on pancreatic islets

ABSTRACT We review here the macrophages found in endocrine tissues, placing emphasis on those residing in the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. The islets represent the endocrine organ where macrophages have been examined in great detail and where our own studies and experience have been directed.</jats:p

Euskal itzulpengintza gaur: argitaletxeen funtzioa euskarazko literatur itzulpenetan

Izenburuak iradokitzen duen bezala, argitaletxeek euskarazko literatur itzulpenean betetzen duten funtzioa izango dugu lan honetan aztergai. Argi utzi nahi genuke hasieratik gure helburua ez dela izango literatur itzulpenen ezaugarri linguistikoak aztertzea, baizik egiten diren literatur itzulpenetan, argitaletxeek zer nolako eragina duten ikusi eta itzulpen horiek zer nolako testuingurutan egiten diren ikertzea, horretarako elkarrizketa bidezko metodologia erabiliz. Hasteko, lan honen lehen atalean, euskarazko itzulpenak argitaratzen dituzten argitaletxeen katalogo bat prestatzen hasi gara, argitaletxe horietako bakoitzaren ezaugarri aipagarrienak nabarmenduz. Lan honen ezaugarriak kontuan hartuz, jakitun gara katalogo horrek oraindik ere hutsuneak dituela eta ez dituela gaur egun euskarazko literatur itzulpenak argitaratzen dituzten argitaletxe guztiak biltzen, baina ahalegindu gara ahal den neurrian argitaletxeek gaur egungo euskarazko literatur itzulpenetan duten zeresanaren inguruko panorama orokor bat eskaintzen: zein diren euskarazko literatur itzulpenak argitaratzen dituzten argitaletxeak, sormen-lanen aldean itzulpenek zer nolako pisua duten argitaletxe horietan, euskarazko itzulpenek zenbateko pisua duten beste hizkuntzetara egindako itzulpenen aldean, zein hizkuntzatatik itzultzen den nagusiki euskarara, zein generotako lanak izaten diren eta lan horiek jatorrizko hizkuntzetatik edo zubi-hizkuntzak erabiliz itzultzen ote diren. Behin euskarazko literatur itzulpenaren ikuspegi hori ulertuta, literatur itzulpen horiek zein testuingurutan egiten diren jakin nahi izan dugu, eta horretarako, itzulgaiak eta itzultzaileak nola aukeratzen diren aztertzeaz gain, itzultzaileek zein baldintzatan lan egiten duten ezagutu nahi izan dugu. Jarraian, itzulpenari eta itzultzaileari ematen zaion ikusgarritasunari erreparatu diogu, liburuen elementu paratestualetan arreta jarriz. Zehazki hiru izan dira aztertutako alderdiak: hasteko, itzulpen-lanetan itzultzailearen aipamenik eta bestelako daturik txertatzen den aztertu dugu; bigarrenik, jatorrizko lanaren izenbururik aipatzen den jakin nahi izan dugu; eta azkenik, zubi-hizkuntzak erabiltzen diren kasuetan horren berri ematen den argitu nahi izan dugu. Lanaren azken atalean, itzulpenen salmentaren inguruko informazioa bildu dugu, euskarazko literatur itzulpenek merkatuan zer nolako pisua duten ezagutzeko asmotan. Behin elkarrizketetatik ateratako ondorioak plazaratuta, azken ondorio batzuk atera ditugu, lanean zehar aipatutako ondorio aipagarrienak laburbilduz eta etorkizunera begira, euskarazko literatur itzulpenari mesede egingo lioketen proposamenak aurkeztuz. Lanari amaiera emateko, kontsultatutako iturri bibliografikoen zerrenda eta elkarrizketetan erabilitako galdetegia aurkezten dira

User Interface Abstraction for enabling TV set based Inclusive Access to the Information Society

199 p.The television (TV) set is present in most homes worldwide, and is the most used Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Despite its large implantation in the market, the interactive services consumption on TV set is limited. This thesis focuses on overcoming the following limiting factors: (i) limited Human Computer Interaction and (ii) lack of considering user’s real life context in the digital television (dTV) service integration strategy. Making interactive services accessible to TV set’s large user base, and especially to the most vulnerable ones, is understood as the path to integrate the mankind with the information society. This thesis explores the use of user interface abstraction technologies to reach the introduced goals. The main contributions of this thesis are: (i) an approach to enable the universally accessible remote control of the TV set, (ii) an approach for the provision of universally accessible interactive services through TV sets, and (iii) an approach for the provision of universally accessible services in the TV user’s real life context. We have implemented the contributing approaches for different use cases, and we have evaluated them with real users, achieving good results

Contributions to the mathematical modeling of estimation of distribution algorithms and pseudo-boolean functions

134 p.Maximice o minimice una función objetivo definida sobre un espacio discreto. Dado que la mayoría de dichos problemas no pueden ser resueltos mediante una búsqueda exhaustiva, su resolución se aproxima frecuentemente mediante algoritmos heurísticos. Sin embargo, no existe ningún algoritmo que se comporte mejor que el resto de algoritmos para resolver todas las instancias de cualquier problema. Por ello, el objetivo ideal es, dado una instancia de un problema, saber cuál es el algoritmo cuya resoluciones más eficiente. Las dos líneas principales de investigación para lograr dicho objetivo son estudiar las definiciones de los problemas y las posibles instancias que cada problema puede generar y el estudio delos diseños y características de los algoritmos. En esta tesis, se han tratado ambas lineas. Por un lado,hemos estudiado las funciones pseudo-Booleanas y varios problemas binarios específicos. Por otro lado,se ha presentado un modelado matemático para estudiar Algoritmos de Estimación de Distribuciones diseñados para resolver problemas basados en permutaciones. La principal motivación ha sido seguir progresando en este campo para comprender mejor las relaciones entre los Problemas de Optimización Combinatoria y los algoritmos de optimización

Materialism, personal well-being and environmental behaviour: cross-national and longitudinal evidence from the UK and Chile

This thesis investigates how materialism is related to personal well-being, as well as to environmental behaviour. I tested key assumptions in the field, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in two samples of adults from two different cultures, the UK – an established mass consumer society – and Chile – a fast-growing economy. Results are presented in the form of three papers. Using a cross-sectional analysis, I showed in Paper 1 that materialism was associated with lower levels of well-being in both countries. Importantly, both need satisfaction and need frustration mediated the link between materialism and well-being. Notably, need frustration played an incremental explanatory role, above and beyond the role of need satisfaction. In Paper 2, I explored the hypothesized link between need satisfaction/frustration and well-being in greater depth. Employing a cross-lagged longitudinal design over 3 years, I found that in both countries, higher total need satisfaction (versus frustration) was a significant prospective predictor of higher well-being. However, when separate needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness were distinguished, only relatedness reached statistical significance in the UK, and none of the three needs individually predicted well-being in Chile. In both countries, need satisfaction prospectively predicted positive well-being, and in the UK, need frustration prospectively predicted negative well-being. Finally, I found a bi-directional link between total need satisfaction and subjective well-being in both countries. These results point towards a better integration of research into hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In Paper 3, I showed, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, that a higher relative importance placed on extrinsic (versus intrinsic) life goals was a negative antecedent of environmentally responsible behaviour, even while controlling for effects of environmental worldviews and environmental identification. Taken together, these results show the negative effects of materialistic values and life goals in both people’s well-being and in the future of our the natural environment

Modelling and Resolution of Dynamic Reliability Problems by the Coupling of Simulink and the Stochastic Hybrid Fault Tree Object Oriented (SHyFTOO) Library

Dependability assessment is one of the most important activities for the analysis of complex systems. Classical analysis techniques of safety, risk, and dependability, like Fault Tree Analysis or Reliability Block Diagrams, are easy to implement, but they estimate inaccurate dependability results due to their simplified hypotheses that assume the components’ malfunctions to be independent from each other and from the system working conditions. Recent contributions within the umbrella of Dynamic Probabilistic Risk Assessment have shown the potential to improve the accuracy of classical dependability analysis methods. Among them, Stochastic Hybrid Fault Tree Automaton (SHyFTA) is a promising methodology because it can combine a Dynamic Fault Tree model with the physics-based deterministic model of a system process, and it can generate dependability metrics along with performance indicators of the physical variables. This paper presents the Stochastic Hybrid Fault Tree Object Oriented (SHyFTOO), a Matlab® software library for the modelling and the resolution of a SHyFTA model. One of the novel features discussed in this contribution is the ease of coupling with a Matlab® Simulink model that facilitates the design of complex system dynamics. To demonstrate the utilization of this software library and the augmented capability of generating further dependability indicators, three di erent case studies are discussed and solved with a thorough description for the implementation of the corresponding SHyFTA models

Networks of digital manufacturing of face shields and the Covid-19: design, maker culture and social mobilization

This paper addresses the issue of the configuration of a network for the digital fabrication of personal protective equipment to fight the pandemic of COVID-19. The main aim is to highlight how creative and innovative design practices, based on digital fabrication, have contributed to combat the new coronavirus in Brazil, concerning the design, production and distribution of face shields. The paper is the result of both exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research. In addition to documentary data and revisiting design literature, this work sought to understand the network formation modus operandi for digital manufacture of face shields, based on examples carried out in every region of the country. In conclusion, it argued that these social mobilization networks are based on the assumptions of the maker culture and reveal the potential for an open, distributed and resilient design to face this contemporary and future crisis

Bilateral Asymmetries Assessment in Elite and Sub-Elite Male Futsal Players

This study aimed to investigate morphological, functional, and neuromuscular asymmetries on futsal players’ lower limbs at different competitive levels. Sixteen male elite futsal players from the Spanish National Futsal League and thirteen male sub-elite futsal players from the third division participated in this study. Morphological asymmetry was assessed through bioelectrical impedance (fat-mass (g and %) and lean-mass (g)). Functional asymmetry was assessed by means of a 20-s static unipedal balance test. Finally, neuromuscular asymmetry was assessed using tensiomiography tests on both the rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) of each participant. The three tests conducted did not reveal significant bilateral asymmetries in elite players. On the other hand, sub-elite players showed significant bilateral asymmetry in fat-mass percentage between dominant and non-dominant limbs (+6%; CI95%: 1 to 11; ES: 0.88; p = 0.019). They also showed higher bilateral asymmetry in the delay time of the RF (+13%; CI95%: 7 to 21; ES: 1.3; p 0.05) did not evidence asymmetries regardless of the level of the participants. Elite futsal players do not develop bilateral asymmetries in lower limbs in the studied parameters. On the contrary, sub-elite players are likely to develop morphological and neuromuscular asymmetries between their dominant leg and non-dominant leg.Sin financiación3.390 JCR (2020) Q1, 42/176 Public, Environmental & Occupational Health0.747 SJR (2020) Q2, 50/136 Health, Toxicology and MutagenesisNo data IDR 2020UE

Processing of proteins in autophagy vesicles of antigen-presenting cells generates citrullinated peptides recognized by the immune system

Our laboratory has been investigating for some time the nature of the response of T lymphocytes in autoimmunity in the reactions against self-proteins that result in a number of diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and others. T cells recognize peptides generated from proteins that are processed by antigen-presenting cells (APC). The peptides may derive from exogenous proteins or from the normal catabolism of self-proteins. The peptides complexed to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules constitute the chemical entity that is engaged by the antigen-receptor of T cells. An important hypothesis postulates that self-peptides that suffer post-translational modifications in the APC may form neo-antigens that are recognized by the immune system and form the target of autoimmunity. Our interest in citrullination in the context of antigen processing and presentation stemmed from studies suggesting that an immune response to citrullinated self-peptides may be involved in autoimmunity. In a first publication, we found T cells that specifically recognized citrullinated peptides after immunization of inbred mice with standard foreign proteins. We used the small protein hen-egg white lysozyme. These T cells only recognized the citrullinated peptide and not the unmodified one, thus proving that a neo-epitope had been created by this modification. But how this modification took place was not known. Our recent report describes a central role for autophagy in citrullination of peptides by APC