Parodización y relativización de la visión eurocéntrica en Neguijón de Fernando Iwasaki

En Neguijón Fernando Iwasaki se acerca a la época “ilustre” del Siglo de Oro español desde un lado inesperado: el humor. El efecto humorístico de la novela proviene del ingrediente fantástico de aquella realidad lejana, y es a través de él como se producen la relativización y la parodización de “lo real maravilloso” y, por ampliación, de esa manera simplicista y exotista de percibir las culturas y literaturas, junto con todo el proceso de la canonización (occidental/accidental). Relacionando la novela con el trabajo ensayístico de Iwasaki, en primer lugar con rePublicanos. Cuando dejamos de ser REALISTAS, en el presente artículo analizamos los tres niveles en los que se consiguen dicha parodización y relativización de la visión eurocéntrica: la religión cristiana —sobre todo, los motivos del cuerpo, el dolor y la beatificación—, la Conquista y la visión del otro y, en último lugar, las relaciones entre lo real y lo fantástico.In Tooth Worm Fernando Iwasaki approaches the “illustrious” period of the Spanish Golden Age from an unexpected point of view: its humorous aspects. The humour in the novel is based on the fantastic ingredient of that distant reality, in a way that diminishes the importance of the “Marvellous Real” and parodies, in consequence, that simplifying and exoticist way of perceiving cultures and literatures, as well as the whole process of the (Occidental/accidental) canon construction. In the attempt to relate this novel to Iwasaki’s essays, primarily to the collection rePublicanos. Cuando dejamos de ser REALISTAS, in the present work we analyse three levels on which such Eurocentric perception is parodied: the Christian Religion (especially the motifs of body, suffering and beatification), Spanish Colonization of the Americas, together with the perception of the other and, finally, the relations between the “real” and the “fantastic”

Epi-genomic determinants of HIV-1 integration in primary CD4+ T cells and macrophages

The infection with HIV-1 nowadays does not represent a condition with a deadly outcome. Due to current therapeutic approaches, the infection with HIV-1 represents a chronic condition in which viral load is kept at undetectable levels, but patients depend on a lifelong therapy without a chance of cure. The eradication of integrated viral DNA still remains the biggest challenge in curing HIV-1. The aim of this work was to contribute to a better understanding and definition of genomic regions and epi-genomic features that HIV-1 targets for integration, and give a detailed description on the importance of chromatin accessibility, as well as the importance of certain genomic features in the process of HIV-1 integration. The first part of this project deals with the importance of HMT G9a activity and H3K9me2 histone mark distribution and deposition in the context of HIV-1 integration in primary CD4+ T cells, which was studied by the application of G9a inhibitor BIX0129, also known as a very potent latency reversing agent. The significance of G9a activity and facultative heterochromatin mark H3K9me2 deposition has previously been shown to affect T cell development and impact shaping of the nuclear architecture. In this work it was demonstrated that the chemical inhibition of G9a and depletion of H3K9me2 by BIX01294 has an increasing effect on HIV-1 integration. The increase in integration was also followed by increased viral transcriptional activity, as well as spatial repositioning of the provirus from the preferred nuclear periphery towards the nuclear center. Similar spatial repositioning has been demonstrated for genes highly and recurrently targeted by HIV-1 for integration (RIGs). However, genic nuclear repositioning upon BIX01294 treatment did not affect transcriptional profiles of HIV-1 RIGs, as demonstrated by RNA microarray analysis, but other groups of genes mainly involved in iron metabolism and inflammatory response were upregulated upon BIX01294 treatment. In addition, HIV-1 integration patterns were shown not to be affected by H3K9me2 depletion, and the virus was still targeting similar genic regions for integration. The analysis of chromatin mark distribution and chromatin binding elements upon BIX01294 treatment on RIGs revealed increased binding profiles of open chromatin mark H3K36me3 which is followed by increased LEDGF/p75 binding upon H3K9me2 depletion. The observed phenomenon might provide an explanation for the observed increased viral integration upon BIX01294 treatment, considering that LEDGF/p75 is a prominent host cell factor involved in the viral integration process. Overall, the first part of this study clearly demonstrated that chromatin accessibility significantly affects HIV-1 integration levels which are directly proportional to viral expression levels and viral activity. The second part of this study deals with the relevance of R-loops, as specific genomic structures, as sites selected for HIV-1 integration in primary CD4+ T cells and macrophages. It was demonstrated that the GFP tagged IN enzyme of HIV-1, in a high occurrence, colocalizes with R-loops in cells, and that for the occurrence of this process a functionally active IN is required. This finding implicated that the observed colocalization is not randomly taking place and that HIV-1 is actively docked to R-loop forming genomic sites. In addition, biochemical as well as computational meta data analysis revealed that HIV-1 RIGs are enriched in R-loops and that R-loop forming sites can accommodate integrated viral DNA. Further on, it was demonstrated that HIV-1 IN has R-loop binding capacity and is also capable of performing the strand transfer reaction on R-loop containing DNA templates. It was also demonstrated that R-loop depletion by RNase H1 overexpression in several cell lines, as well as in primary cells, significantly impairs HIV-1 integration, indicating that R-loop presence is crucial for efficient HIV-1 integration. In line with this result was the finding that RIGs expression was not affected by R-loop removal, indicating that only the presence of R-loops, as structural genomic elements, is more affecting HIV-1 integration compared to gene expression levels. The final finding is also in line with previous work from our lab. In summary, the second part of this study provides strong evidence that R-loops represent structural genomic elements targeted by HIV-1 for integration and also gives new insight into HIV-1 IN functional III features which have not been addressed before

Unexpected systemic amyloidosis in patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy Case report

Systemic amyloidosis is a rare disease and it is caused by deposition of insoluble abnormal fibrillary proteins known as amyloid in extracellular space. Protein deposits are components of immunoglobulins produced by plasma cells and B–lymphocytes in response to antigenic stimulation. Three different forms of amyloidosis can be distinguished, the primary (AL), secondary (AA) and family form. Localized amyloidosis occurs in the pancreas in type 2 diabetic patients and in patients on chronic hemodialysis. The clinical presentation in amyloidosis depends on the affected organs. Symptoms are non-specific and included fatugue, weight loss, nephrotic syndrome, restrictive cardiomyopathy with thickening of the interventricular septum and ventricular wall, peripheral neuropathy, hepatomegaly, macroglossia, purpura and bleeding diathesis. In these article we presented the unexpected systemic amyloidosis in a patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy and without malignant and hematological diseases who suffered from dyspnea, weakness, fatigue, loss of appetite and cough. Diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis was made upon histological samples after autopsy

Stabilization of a thermal camera at sea

During, for example, search-and-rescue operations at sea, technical equipment like spotlights and thermal cameras are important aids. However, heave and sway affect the ship and make it harder for finding a person in distress. This thesis presents a way of stabilizing a thermal camera by controlling a stepper motor connected to it. Moreover, the thermal camera can only be turned upwards and downwards. The whole process was investigated to see what can and needs to be measured for stabilization at sea to work. With this knowledge, sensors had to be chosen to collect the necessary measurements. The measurements from the different sensors were merged together using a Kalman filter to give an estimation for the tilt and elevation of a ship, which was used for controlling the stepper motor. Moreover, the control of the stepper motor was done using PID control. The process was simulated in Simulink, making it possible to tune different parameters so that good performance was ensured based on assumed models. This was then implemented on the real system and tests were carried out to verify what was found during simulations. The result from this thesis is a stabilized thermal camera which helps an operator enormously in searching and finding objects at sea

The Discovery of 1000 km/s Outflows in Massive Post-starburst Galaxies at z=0.6

Numerical simulations suggest that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play an important role in the formation of early-type galaxies by expelling gas and dust in powerful galactic winds and quenching star formation. However, the existence of AGN feedback capable of halting galaxy-wide star formation has yet to be observationally confirmed. To investigate this question, we have obtained spectra of 14 post-starburst galaxies at z~0.6 to search for evidence of galactic winds. In 10/14 galaxies we detect Mg II 2796,2803 absorption lines which are blueshifted by 490 - 2020 km/s with respect to the stars. The median blueshift is 1140 km/s. We hypothesize that the outflowing gas represents a fossil galactic wind launched near the peak of the galaxy's activity, a few 100 Myr ago. The velocities we measure are intermediate between those of luminous starbursts and broad absorption line quasars, which suggests that feedback from an AGN may have played a role in expelling cool gas and shutting down star formation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter

EU Law on Nuclear Safety

The European Union (EU) is the first major regional nuclear actor to provide a binding legal framework on nuclear safety. The EU Council unanimously adopted Directive 2009/71 establishing a Community framework for the safety of nuclear installations in June 2009. The Directive builds primarily on the safety standards developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the provisions of the 1994 Convention on Nuclear Safety. Nuclear safety standards are now part of EU law and are enforceable before the European Court of Justice and national courts of EU Member States. Importantly, the Directive represents the first step towards the harmonisation of safety standards across the EU and should contribute to improving public confidence in the nuclear sector across the EU