Development of a Sandwich ELISA to Measure Exposure to Occupational Cow Hair Allergens

Background: Cow hair and dander are important inducers of occupational allergies in cattle-exposed farmers. To estimate allergen exposure in farming environments, a sensitive enzyme immunoassay was developed to measure cow hair allergens. Methods: A sandwich ELISA was developed using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against a mixture of hair extracts from different cattle breeds. To assess the specificity of the assay, extracts from other mammalian epithelia, mites, molds and grains were tested. To validate the new assay, cow hair allergens were measured in passive airborne dust samples from the stables and homes of farmers. Dust was collected with electrostatic dust fall collectors (EDCs). Results: The sandwich ELISA was found to be very sensitive (detection limit: 0.1 ng/ml) and highly reproducible, demonstrating intra-and interassay coefficients of variation of 4 and 10%, respectively. The assay showed no reactivity with mites, molds and grains, but some cross-reactivity with other mammalian epithelia, with the strongest reaction with goat. Using EDCs for dust sampling, high concentrations of bovine allergens were measured in cow stables (4,760-559,400 mu g/m(2)). In addition, bovine allergens were detected in all areas of cattle farmer dwellings. A large variation was found between individual samples (0.3-900 mu g/m(2)) and significantly higher values were discovered in changing rooms. Conclusion: The ELISA developed for the detection of cow hair proteins is a useful tool for allergen quantification in occupational and home environments. Based on its low detection limit, this test is sensitive enough to detect allergens in passive airborne dust. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Aprendre a emprendre en el sector audiovisual. El MOOC com a eina per millorar l’empleabilitat.

Es presenta la posada en marxa d’una acció d’innovació docent, promoguda des de l'ensenyament de Comunicació Audiovisual de la Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació de la UB, i portada a terme pel Grup Consolidat d’Innovació Docent GIDC-CAV. Aquesta té com a objectius generals crear continguts i recursos digitals sobre l’emprenedoria en l'àmbit de la comunicació audiovisual en format MOOC i el desenvolupament i l’aplicació d’eines de seguiment del procés d’avaluació i d’aprenentatge.Programa de Millora i Innovació Docent de la Universitat de Barcelona - Vicerectorat de Política Docen

Directrices académico-docentes en el grado de CAV: Un estudio exploratorio multifuente

En este artículo se presenta una experiencia de investigación en el marco de los estudios de Comunicación Audiovisual de la Universidad de Barcelona. El objetivo ha sido diseñar las directrices académico-docentes de la materia Proyectos del Grado de Comunicación Audiovisual. Durante los meses de octubre y noviembre de 2012, se realizó un estudio cualitativo descriptivo, de carácter exploratorio y con metodología multifuente para identificar aquellos aspectos que permiten el desarrollo de una propuesta didáctica caracterizada por el desarrollo de las competencias del estudiante. Se optó por realizar dos seminarios prospectivos como técnica de recogida de datos. Esta metodología es considerada especialmente útil para estudiar la generación de representaciones sociales, dado que a partir del debate grupal emerge el significado compartido acerca del tema de discusión. Los informantes fueron identificados como clave por el hecho de ser docentes, egresados y/o empleadores de Comunicación Audiovisual. El análisis de contenido muestra un cierto grado de consenso entre profesores, profesionales y egresados con respecto a los conocimientos/habilidades requeridos por los estudiantes y docentes para el desarrollo de un proyecto audiovisual. Se evidencia la conceptualización del proyecto como un proceso y un producto que requiere la puesta en práctica de conocimientos y habilidades, así como el papel relevante que estudiantes y profesores tienen frente a los empleadores. Así mismo se observa el gap existente entre las competencias descritas en la titulación y las expresadas en los seminarios prospectivos

Aprenentatge professionalitzador en CAV. Informe final 2013PID-UB/008

Projecte: 2013PID-UB/008El projecte Aprenentatge professionalitzador en CAV: La matèria Projectes, una plataforma d’inserció laboral ha tingut per objectiu general desenvolupar l’aprenentatge professionalitzador en els estudiants de grau de Comunicació Audiovisual a partir de la matèria Projectes i, concretament, de l’assignatura Projectes II. Un dels aspectes més innovadors d’aquest és que les propostes d’acció han revertit no només en la millora de l’aprenentatge dels estudiants, si no molt especialment en la seva inserció laboral. Això ha estat possible a partir del desenvolupament de competències de caràcter professionalitzador, en concret les emprenedores, emprant com a mitjà formatiu els Massive Open On-line Course (MOOC). Per tal d’assolir els objectius assenyalats, es va plantejar un projecte plurianual i prospectiu, estructurat en tres fases: • Fase I: curs 2013-2014. Anàlisi i detecció de necessitats en competències professionalitzadores. • Fase II: curs 2014-2016. Disseny i implementació d’un MOOC derivat de l’anàlisi i detecció de necessitats en competències professionalitzadores realitzada a la Fase I. • Fase III: curs 2016-2017. Avaluació 360º del MOOC desenvolupat i implementat en la Fase II.Vicerectorat de Política Docent - Programa de Millora i Innovació Docent (PMID

Tpl2 kinase regulates T cell interferon-γ production and host resistance to Toxoplasma gondii

Tpl2 (Tumor progression locus 2), also known as Cot/MAP3K8, is a hematopoietically expressed serine-threonine kinase. Tpl2 is known to have critical functions in innate immunity in regulating tumor necrosis factor–α, Toll-like receptor, and G protein–coupled receptor signaling; however, our understanding of its physiological role in T cells is limited. We investigated the potential roles of Tpl2 in T cells and found that it was induced by interleukin-12 in human and mouse T cells in a Stat4-dependent manner. Deficiency of Tpl2 was associated with impaired interferon (IFN)-γ production. Accordingly, Tpl2−/− mice had impaired host defense against Toxoplasma gondii with reduced parasite clearance and decreased IFN-γ production. Furthermore, reconstitution of Rag2−/− mice with Tpl2-deficient T cells followed by T. gondii infection recapitulated the IFN-γ defect seen in the Tpl2-deficient mice, confirming a T cell–intrinsic defect. CD4+ T cells isolated from Tpl2−/− mice showed poor induction of T-bet and failure to up-regulate Stat4 protein, which is associated with impaired TCR-dependent extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. These data underscore the role of Tpl2 as a regulator of T helper cell lineage decisions and demonstrate that Tpl2 has an important functional role in the regulation of Th1 responses

Respiratory Polygraphy Patterns and Risk of Recurrent Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity is based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). The AHI is a simplistic measure that is inadequate for capturing disease severity and its consequences in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Deleterious effects of OSA have been suggested to influence the prognosis of specific endotypes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We aim to identify respiratory polygraphy (RP) patterns that contribute to identifying the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with ACS. Methods: Post hoc analysis of the ISAACC study, including 723 patients admitted for a first ACS (NCT01335087) in which RP was performed. To identify specific RP patterns, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using six RP parameters: AHI, oxygen desaturation index, mean and minimum oxygen saturation (SaO2), average duration of events and percentage of time with SaO2 < 90%. An independent HypnoLaus population-based cohort was used to validate the RP components. Results: From the ISAACC study, PCA showed that two RP components accounted for 70% of the variance in the RP data. These components were validated in the HypnoLaus cohort, with two similar RP components that explained 71.3% of the variance in the RP data. The first component (component 1) was mainly characterized by low mean SaO2 and obstructive respiratory events with severe desaturation, and the second component (component 2) was characterized by high mean SaO2 and long-duration obstructive respiratory events without severe desaturation. In the ISAACC cohort, component 2 was associated with an increased risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in the third tertile with an adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) of 2.44 (1.07 to 5.56; p-value = 0.03) compared to first tertile. For component 1, no significant association was found for the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events. Conclusion: A RP component, mainly characterized by intermittent hypoxemia, is associated with a high risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients without previous CVD who have suffered a first ACS.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; PI10/02763, PI10/02745, PI18/00449, and PI19/00907), co-funded by FEDER, “Una manera de hacer europa,” IRBLleida – Fundació Pifarré, CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya, SEPAR, ResMed Ltd. (Australia), Esteve-Teijin (Spain), Oxigen Salud (Spain), Associació Lleidatana de Respiratori (ALLER), and Sociedad Española de Sueño (SES). AZ is the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship “Ajuts 2021 de Promoció de la Recerca en Salut-9a edició” from IRBLleida/Diputació de Lleida. JD acknowledges receiving financial support from ISCIII (Miguel Servet 2019: CP19/00108), co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), “Investing in your future.” MS-d-l-T has received financial support from a “Ramón y Cajal” grant (RYC2019-027831-I) from the “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación – Agencia Estatal de Investigación” co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF)/“Investing in your future.” FB received funding from from ResMed (an Australian company that develops products related to sleep apnea), the Health Research Fund, the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Spanish Respiratory Society, the Catalonian Cardiology Society, Esteve-Teijin (Spain), Oxigen Salud (Spain), and ALLER. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication

Grup d'Innovació Docent i d'Investigació en Comunicació Audiovisual (GID-CAV)

Podeu consultar la Setena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/4335