Aportacions al catàleg dels gravats de Francisco Goya. Les 12 estampes dels disparates de la Masia d'en Cabanyes

Estudi històric, formal i tècnic i catalogació de les 12 estampes dels Disparates de Goya pertanyents al Centre d’Interpretació del Romanticisme Manuel de Cabanyes, a la Masia d’en Cabanyes (Vilanova i la Geltrú), que conclou que són proves d’assaig, abans de la primera edició de 1864. Proves amb peculiars característiques que s’afegeixen al catàleg raonat dels gravats de l’artista

La passió per l'art. José Milicua Illarramendi (1921-2013)

Necrologia sobre José Milicu

Jaume Pla, arquitecte de llibres

Aportació a la taula rodona sobre “Jaume Pla, arquitecte de llibres” celebrada al saló d’actes de la Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, el dia 30 d’abril del 2014

Memoria del año 2014

Memòria del funcionament i de les activitats de la Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi i dels acadèmics realitzades durant l'any 2014 (castellà)

Slow and Fast Neocortical Oscillations in the Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Model SAMP8

The senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) model is characterized by accelerated, progressive cognitive decline as well as Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like neurodegenerative changes, and resembles the etiology of multicausal, sporadic late-onset/age-related AD in humans. Our aim was to find whether these AD-like pathological features, together with the cognitive deficits present in the SAMP8 strain, are accompanied by disturbances in cortical network activity with respect to control mice (SAM resistance 1, SAMR1) and, if so, how the alterations in cortical activity progress with age. For this purpose, we characterized the extracellular spontaneous oscillatory activity in different regions of the cerebral cortex of SAMP8 and SAMR1 mice under ketamine anesthesia at 5 and 7 months of age. Under these conditions, slow oscillations and fast rhythms generated in the cortical network were recorded and different parameters of these oscillations were quantified and compared between SAMP8 and their control, SAMR1 mice. The average frequency of slow oscillations in SAMP8 mice was decreased with respect to the control mice at both studied ages. An elongation of the silent periods or Down states was behind the decreased slow oscillatory frequency while the duration of active or Up states remained stable. SAMP8 mice also presented increased cycle variability and reduced high frequency components during Down states. During Up states, the power peak in the gamma range was displaced towards lower frequencies in all the cortical areas of SAMP8 with respect to control mice suggesting that the spectral profile of SAMP8 animals is shifted towards lower frequencies. This shift is reminiscent to one of the principal hallmarks of electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities in patients with Alzheimer's disease, and adds evidence in support of the suitability of the SAMP8 mouse as a model of this disease. Although some of the differences between SAMP8 and control mice were emphasized with age, the evolution of the studied parameters as SAMR1 mice got older indicates that the SAMR1 phenotype tends to converge with that of SAMP8 animals. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic characterization of the cortical slow and fast rhythms in the SAMP8 strain and it provides useful insights about the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying the reported alterations

Effects of salt stress on plant growth, abscisic acid and salicylic acid in own-rooted cultivars of Vitis vinifera L.

Aim of study: In most areas of vineyards worldwide, cultivars are frequently grafted on specific rootstocks to avoid Daktulosphaira vitifoliae pest attack. Nevertheless, the absence of this pest in Canary Islands allowed the chance to conserve and cultivate traditional or new own-rooted genotypes without the requirement of the rootstocks. To investigate the responses of own-rooted genotypes of Vitis vinifera L. to salt stress conditions, ‘Castellana Negra’ (‘CN’) and ‘Negramoll’ (‘Ne’) were used with the aim to characterize their morphological and physiological responses.Area of study: Canary Islands, Spain.Material and methods: The effects of NaCl stress on growth, abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA) and proline were assessed in ‘CN’ and ‘Ne’ under greenhouse conditions.Main results: In ‘CN’, the decrease of leaf number in stressed plants was lower and started eleven days later than in ‘Ne’. Salt stress also reduced stomatal conductance (gs), although such decrease took place earlier in ‘CN’ than in ‘Ne’. ABA and SA concentrations in ‘CN’ leaves were 2-fold higher than those of ‘Ne’. Salt stress increased leaf ABA and SA content in both genotypes, compared to control. In conclusion, ABA and SA appear to be involved in grapevines responses to salinity and suggest that exogenous SA could be useful to mitigate the stress impacts.Research highlights: ‘CN’ exhibited a better response than ‘Ne’ through the delay of salt injury establishment, and the dissimilar responses between ‘CN’ and ‘Ne’ seem to be associated to the higher accumulation of ABA and SA under salt stress

Entorn de suport per al disseny d’activitats formatives basades en l’ús de sistemes de resposta interactiva a les Escoles del Campus Nord

Les tres escoles del Campus Nord utilitzen els comandaments TurningPoint en algunes assignatures, sobretot de la fase inicial. La disponibilitat d’un nombre reduït de comandaments i la necessitat de repartir-los i recollir-los a cada classe limiten l’extensió d’aquesta metodologia. En aquest projecte s’ha desenvolupat un mòdul de Moodle i un conjunt d’aplicacions que permeten integrar els qüestionaris interactius a Atenea i utilitzar els telèfons intel•ligents (smartphones) o els portàtils de l’estudiantat com a comandaments.Peer Reviewe

PRACTICUM II de Psicologia Mèdica en els Centres d'Atenció Primària sobre la comunicació no verbal en la relació metge-pacient

La Unitat de Psicologia Mèdica de la Facultat de Medicina de la UAB va posar en marxa durant el curs 2005/2006 el Practicum II de Psicologia Mèdica en els Centres d'Atenció Primària amb l'objectiu que els estudiants comencin a copsar la importància de les conductes i dels estats psicològics de les persones en els processos de salut-malaltia que es veuen en els Centres d'Atenció Primària (CAP). El Practicum està dedicat específicament als aspectes no verbals de la comunicació entre el professional de la salut i el pacient. L'experiència forma part de l'assignatura "Bases Psicològiques dels Estats de Salut i de Malaltia", impartida a segon curs de Medicina; s'inscriu en el paradigma de l'aprenentatge des de la pràctica que protagonitzen els professionals del sistema sanitari; i s'emmarca en el context d'un procés impulsat pels equips deganals de la Facultat de Medicina de la UAB des del curs 2004/2005 per tal d'apropar l'estudiant a la pràctica clínica des del primer curs de carrera i avançar cap a la consecució dels objectius que marquen les directrius europees. Cada alumne realitza dues visites programades a un CAP i participa en quatre sessions de tutoria a la Facultat en grups reduïts. En les visites al CAP, ha d'assistir a sessions de consulta amb diversos professionals de l'àmbit de la salut. Ha d'observar, identificar i enregistrar els elements no verbals que es descriuen en els objectius del Practicum i el context en què ocorren. A les sessions de tutories s'entrena els alumnes per a fer les observacions mitjançant material audiovisual i es discuteixen les observacions realitzades en els CAP. A més, també s'utilitza com a material una monografia específica sobre el tema. L'experiència es valora favorablement. tant des del punt de vista dels resultats obtinguts pels alumnes com per la seva satisfacció.The Medical Psychology Unit of the UAB School of Medicine initiated during the academic year 2005/2006 the Medical Psychology Practicum II in primary care centers with the goal that students realize the importance of human behaviors and psychological states in health-illness processes in primary care centers. The Practicum is specifically oriented to non verbal communication between the health professional and the patient. The experience is part of the subject "Psychological Bases of Health and Illness", taught in second course of Medicine; it is registered "learning from the practice" paradigm that professionals from the health system lead; and it is framed in the context of a process promoted by the UAB School of Medicine Deanship since the academic year 2004/2005 with the goal of bringing the clinical practice to the student from the first academic year and advancing towards the achievement of the goals that the European guidelines mark. Each student does two programmed visits to primary health center and participates in four tutorials of reduced groups in the Faculty. During the visits to the primary health center, he has to attend sessions of consultation with professionals from several health areas. He has to observe, to identify and to record the non verbal elements that are described in the Practicum goals and the context in which they occur. At the tutorials, students are trained to observe through audiovisual didactic material and the observations carried out at the primary health center are argued. Moreover, a specific monograph is also used as a specific material about the subject. The experience of these last two years has been satisfactory so for the professionals of the primary care centres as for the tutors and the students. The experience is valued favorably considering students' academic results and their satisfaction

Impact of Betamethasone Pretreatment on Engrafment of Cord Blood-Derived Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is crucial to cure hematologic malignancies. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a source of stem cells, but 90% of UCB units are discarded due to low cellularity. Improving the engraftment capacities of CD34 + stem cells would allow the use of UCB that were so far rejected. Betamethasone induces long-term transcriptomic and epigenomic changes in immune cells through glucocorticoid receptor. We hypothesize that discarded UCB could be used owing to improvements induced by betamethasone. Isolated CD34 + HSC from UCB were exposed to the synthetic glucocorticoids betamethasone and fluticasone for 20 h, and cell phenotype was determined before transplantation. NSG mice were sub-lethally irradiated (1 Gy or 2 Gy) 6 h before intravenously transferring 2-5 × 10 5 CD34 + HSC. The peripheral blood engraftment levels and the leukocyte subsets were followed up for 20 weeks using flow cytometry. At end point, the engraftment and leukocyte subsets were determined in the spleen and bone marrow. We demonstrated that betamethasone has surprising effects in recovering immune system homeostasis. Betamethasone and fluticasone increase CXCR4 and decrease HLA class II and CD54 expression in CD34 + HSCs. Both glucocorticoids-exposed cells showed a similar engraftment in 2 Gy-irradiated NSG mice. Interestingly, betamethasone-exposed cells showed enhanced engraftment in 1 Gy-irradiated NSG mice, with a trend to increase regulatory T cell percentage when compared to control. Betamethasone induces alterations in CD34 + HSCs and improve the engraftment, leading to a faster immune system recovery, which will contribute to engrafted cells survival