Joaquina Labajo, Sin contar la música. Ruinas, sueños y encuentros en la Europa de María Zambrano, Madrid, Endymion ensayo, 2011.

El hilo encantado

El sistema crítico: mecanismos para la apropiación cívica de la red infraestructural metropolitana

El Sistema Crítico es el ámbito resultante de la superposición entre la lógica de implantación de la infraestructura y las dinámicas propias de la matriz biofísica que actúa como soporte. Los criterios de economía y seguridad han prevalecido en el diseño de la red de altas prestaciones por encima de la permeabilidad, accesibilidad, continuidad e identidad, factores clave en la integración de la red en el territorio. Los grandes corredores metropolitanos son hoy en día lugares heterogéneos y expectantes, vacíos de oportunidad para la apropiación cívica, reductos testimoniales de un pasado que hoy, con cierta perspectiva histórica, se presta a consideración. El siguiente artículo tiene como objetivo evaluar la idoneidad del Sistema Crítico como ámbito estratégico de integración cívica de la red infraestructural. La metodología propuesta se aplica al caso del corredor del río Llobregat, principal eje de comunicación de la región metropolitana de Barcelona.ENG: Critical System is the result of the overlapping area between the logic of infrastructures and the dynamics of biophysical matrix, that acts as a support. The criteria of economy and security have prevailed in the design of highperformance networks over accessibility, continuity and identity as key issues for the integration of the territory. Nowadays, the great metropolitan corridors are more heterogeneous and expectant, without any opportunity for civic activities; redoubts testimonial from a past that today, with some historical perspective, lends itself to consideration. The following article aims to assess the suitability of the Critical System as a strategic field of civic integration of the network infrastructure. The proposed methodology is applied to the case of Llobregat river corridor, the main communication hub of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona.Peer Reviewe

Dynamics of interacting diseases

Current modeling of infectious diseases allows for the study of complex and realistic scenarios that go from the population to the individual level of description. However, most epidemic models assume that the spreading process takes place on a single level (be it a single population, a meta-population system or a network of contacts). In particular, interdependent contagion phenomena can only be addressed if we go beyond the scheme one pathogen-one network. In this paper, we propose a framework that allows describing the spreading dynamics of two concurrent diseases. Specifically, we characterize analytically the epidemic thresholds of the two diseases for different scenarios and also compute the temporal evolution characterizing the unfolding dynamics. Results show that there are regions of the parameter space in which the onset of a disease's outbreak is conditioned to the prevalence levels of the other disease. Moreover, we show, for the SIS scheme, that under certain circumstances, finite and not vanishing epidemic thresholds are found even at the thermodynamic limit for scale-free networks. For the SIR scenario, the phenomenology is richer and additional interdependencies show up. We also find that the secondary thresholds for the SIS and SIR models are different, which results directly from the interaction between both diseases. Our work thus solve an important problem and pave the way towards a more comprehensive description of the dynamics of interacting diseases.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, 3 appendices. Final version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Wijkgedachte: el concepto de comunidad urbana en los Países Bajos

Peer Reviewe

La brocha y el lienzo, el compás y la carta

Postprint (author’s final draft

Carrers del món

Iniciativa de treball col·laboratiu en l’àmbit del planejament urbanístic mitjançant l’entorn virtual Atenea. Adreçat a les aules de taller de l’assignatura d’Urbanística de l’Escola d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (vialitat). Es proposa l’anàlisi urbanístic i cultural a l’entorn d’un eix viari de trascendència internacional. Els alumnes es comprometen a penjar documentació gràfica sobre el carrer proposat amb caràcter setmanal. Una carpeta habilitada a Atenea amb aquest fi i que s’actualitza periòdicament recull tot el material a mode de calaix de sastre. Els alumnes hauran d’endreçar i processar la documentació per tal d’elaborar una presentació pública que inclogui tots els arxius rebuts. Els criteris d’avaluació d’aquesta activitat són el nivell de compromís de l’alumnat i la qualitat de l’anàlisi de la presentació. Aquestes dues variables estan estretament vinculades, doncs el material disponible depèn de la implicació dels companys.Peer Reviewe

The Times of Miralles

[EN] [En Blanco. Revista de Arquitectura] joins in the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the death of the architect Enric Miralles with a special issue dedicated to revisiting some of his most significant projects, in which exposed concrete plays a decisive role. This retrospective look is proposed in two stages: the first based on the work designed and built together with the architect Carme Pinós, and the second developed in collaboration with the architect Benedetta Tagliabue. As a result, issue #29 of [En Blanco. Revista de Arquitectura] propone proposes a reflection on the materiality of concrete in the design of public space, but also on the role of time in the conception, execution and civic appropriation of the architectural project in Miralles' work. [ES] [En Blanco. Revista de Arquitectura] se suma a la conmemoración del veinte aniversario del fallecimiento del arquitecto Enric Miralles con un número especial dedicado a revisitar algunos de sus proyectos más significativos, y en donde el hormigón visto juega un papel determinante. Esta mirada retrospectiva se propone en dos tiempos: el primero basado en la obra proyectada y construida junto a la arquitecta Carme Pinós, y el segundo desarrollado en colaboración con la arquitecta Benedetta Tagliabue. Así pues, a través del número 29 de [En Blanco. Revista de Arquitectura] propone una reflexión sobre la materialidad del hormigón en el proyecto del espacio público, pero también sobre el papel del tiempo en la concepción, ejecución y apropiación cívica del proyecto arquitectónico en la obra de Miralles. Moreno Sanz, J. (2020). Tiempos de Miralles. EN BLANCO. Revista de Arquitectura. 12(29):5-7. https://doi.org/10.4995/eb.2020.14381OJS57122

Interpreting the Venustas Barcinonensis

The expansion and improvement plan of Barcelona city was approved in 1859. 150 years later, the district of Eixample is considered one of the most versatile and successful urban pattern in Western Europe. Ildefons Cerdà was its designer, Modernism is its artistic style and residents are its soul. The aim of this article is study in depth an unprecedented aspect in project and implementation: Is the Eixample of Barcelona beautiful? The answer to this question is resolved through five hypotheses: artistic value versus scientific qualities, regular structure versus singular emplacement, human scale versus regional perspective, scenography versus dynamic city and social identity versus cultural heritage. Beauty is not only in a well-built design, it is in correspondence between solid and flow, between Architecture and mobility, between permanence and tentativeness.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Function of the Myc-binding protein Miz1 in the mouse mammary gland

The study of the expression and function of proteins important for human health in normal development provides valuable information for the design of therapeutical opportunities in the context of disease. Myc is one of the current most promising targets for a number of cancer types including triple-negative breast cancer and Miz1 has been shown to play an important role in Myc-mediated tumorigenesis. In the present work, the function of the Myc-binding protein Miz1 in the mammary gland is investigated for the first time using two different lines of transgenic mice expressing Cre-recombinase to conditionally knockout the POZ domain of Miz1 in the murine mammary gland. Deletion of this evolutionary-conserved region impedes multimerization and stable association of Miz1 with chromatin. MMTV-Cre mediated deletion was used to investigate Miz1 function in the virgin gland, considering branching morphogenesis and mammary stem/progenitor biology. Ablation under the Wap-Cre promoter provided information about alveologenesis and mammary differentiation. The mammary gland is a very suitable organ for stem cell and developmental studies as rounds of proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis occur after each pregnancy. POZ domain deletion using MMTV-Cre (Line A), already active in the embryo, led to a delayed ductal tree formation, less cellularity in knockout ducts and a Myc-independent accumulation of stem/progenitor cells in virgin mammary glands of Miz1DPOZ animals. No differences in the expression of luminal and myoepithelial markers were observed between control and Miz1DPOZ virgin mice. In addition, the delay in the development of the mammary ductal tree in knockout mice is rescued at around two months of age. Endogenous Miz1 expression in the mammary gland of control animals was found to be highly boosted during lactation by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Very low Miz1 levels were detected at the end of pregnancy, which increased after parturition and diminished upon cessation of pup suckling at around 48 hours of forced involution. Miz1 POZ domain ablation in luminal alveolar mammary cells during pregnancy using the WAP-Cre transgenic line resulted in a lactation defect in mutant dams during the first two pregnancies analysed. Mutant lactating glands display a reduced alveologenesis as a result of a diminished mammary cell proliferation and differentiation. These data were also confirmed in vitro using the HC11 murine mammary cell line after retroviral infection for stable knockdown of Miz1. HC11 cells with low levels of Miz1 show a reduced proliferation and a decreased expression of ß-casein after inducing differentiation by addition of a lactogenic hormone cocktail containing prolactin. Apoptosis is unaffected after either Miz1 POZ domain ablation in vivo or stable knockdown of Miz1 in vitro. Mutant glands display lower levels of activated Stat5 which lead to a reduced expression of its transcriptional targets, mainly genes which code for milk proteins like a-casein, b-casein or whey acidic protein (WAP). Gene expression of negative regulators of the Jak2/Stat5 pathway like Socs (Socs1, Socs2 and Socs3) or Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is not upregulated in Miz1DPOZ lactating glands. In contrast, the expression of receptors important for a proper phosphorylation of Stat5, like the prolactin receptor or ErbB4, is decreased in lactating mutant glands. ChIP-Seq experiments revealed that genes encoding the prolactin receptor and ErbB4 are not direct targets of Miz1. Rather, Miz1 binds to genes which regulate vesicular transport and thus alters processes like endocytosis and autophagy in mammary gland cells. A model in which the vesicular transport of these receptors in mutant glands could be disrupted is proposed. In conclusion, this work shows for the first time that Miz1 is important for mammary stem/progenitor cell regulation in the virgin gland and for a proper proliferation and differentiation in the lactating mammary gland