International Workshop of Syntactic Variation of Catalan and Spanish Dialects, 26-28 June 2013, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

This is a review of the papers presented at the "International Workshop of Syntactic Variation of Catalan and Spanish Dialects" (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, June 26-28, 2013)

The Role of Natriuretic peptides in Renovascular Hypertension and its correlation with the Evolution of Myocardial Hypertrophy

The interactions between pressure and volume overload that occur in hypertension lead to different patterns of cardiac hypertrophy and to increase in natriuretic peptides (NPs). The profiles of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) synthesis and secretion have been investigated in models of hypertension. However, the different evolution of these profiles during the acute and chronic periods of pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy is still unknown. For this reason, we studied one-kidney, one clip model using Sprague-Dawley rats at weeks 2, 4, 6 and 12 and correlated the evolution of these profiles with cardiac hypertrophy and hypertension. We observed a positive correlation between blood pressure elevation and the degree of cardiac hypertrophy, with a time-dependent increase in both parameters from week 2. Levels of BNP expression showed an early increase after 2 weeks of treatment while ANP increased significantly after 6 weeks. Yet, the increase in ANP expression was gradual, allowing its correlation with hypertrophy and hypertension. The NP expression has a differential response in the early stages of the development of hypertrophy induced by the renovascular model, with an early increase in BNP expression. Once hypertrophy develops, BNP expression is no longer specific and the increase of both NPs depends on and correlates with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy.Fil: Cerrudo, Carolina Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Cavallero, Carmen Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez Fermepin, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Hertig, Cecilia Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Belisario Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentin

Gut microbiota, diet, and obesity-related disorders - The good, the bad, and the future challenges

Diet has been shown to be a major factor in modulating the structure of the mammalian gut microbiota by providing specific nutrient sources and inducing environmental changes (pH, bile acids) in the gut ecosystem. Long-term dietary patterns and short-term interventions have been shown to induce changes in gut microbiota structure and function, with several studies revealing metabolic changes likely resulting from the host microbiota cross-talk, which ultimately could influence host physiology. However, a more precise identification of the specific dietary patterns and food constituents that effectively modulate the gut microbiota and bring a predictable benefit to the host metabolic phenotype is needed to establish microbiome-based dietary recommendations. Here, we briefly review the existing data regarding gut microbiota changes induced by different macronutrients and the resulting metabolites produced via their respective fermentation, including their potential effects on obesity and associated metabolic disorders. We also discuss major limitations of current dietary intervention studies as well as future needs of applying cutting-edge “omic” techniques and of progressing in functional microbiota gene discovery to establish robust causal relationships between the dietary microbiota induced changes and metabolic health or disease.This works is supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program under the grant agreement no 613979 (MyNewGut) and grant AGL2014-52101-P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Spain). The FPU scholarship of V. Cerrudo from MECD (Spain) is fully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Adding Salt to Pepper: A Structured Security Assessment over a Humanoid Robot

The rise of connectivity, digitalization, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing our society and shaping its future development. During this technological and societal revolution, security has been persistently neglected, yet a hacked robot can act as an insider threat in organizations, industries, public spaces, and private homes. In this paper, we perform a structured security assessment of Pepper, a commercial humanoid robot. Our analysis, composed by an automated and a manual part, points out a relevant number of security flaws that can be used to take over and command the robot. Furthermore, we suggest how these issues could be fixed, thus, avoided in the future. The very final aim of this work is to push the rise of the security level of IoT products before they are sold on the public market.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 4 table

Configuración espacio-temporal de las variables ambientales en relación a los riesgos naturales en Potrerillos, Mendoza

La zona cordillerana al suroeste de Mendoza conocido como Potrerillos, está compuesta de una serie de villas de crecimiento sostenido y que ha aumentado exponencialmente en los últimos años, con una disposición espacial muy particular porque es altamente dependiente de su situación geomorfológica, lo que produce límites de tipo físico para su desarrollo potencial. Esta región aloja y sostiene procesos geodinámicos internos y externos relacionados a eventos sísmicos y aluvionales, entre otros. Esto produce particulares y descontrolados vectores de incremento poblacional y de ocupación territorial. La caótica urbanización que esta zona turística está teniendo, hace que gran parte de la población se desplace hacia áreas de importantes pendientes, generadoras de fenómenos relacionados con eventos pluviométricos estivales donde se activan procesos de remoción en masa, que en parte son disparados por acontecimientos sísmicos, comunes en el área. Estos procesos junto a otros de menor orden, pero igualmente importantes, colocan a un núcleo de habitantes en Riesgo Geológico. Se presentan en esta oportunidad, los trabajos realizados tendientes a la elaboración de cartografía para establecer planes de mitigación, zonificación y contingencia adecuados en la zona. Se realizaron estudios tomando información de diversos sensores remotos a los efectos de establecer comparaciones multitemporales que permitan cualificar la presión antrópica. Dentro de los análisis digitales se incluyeron trabajos con clasificación supervisada (maximum likelihood), por árbol de decisiones (utilizando modelos digitales de elevación a partir de datos propios), density slice, componentes principales y decorrelation stretch. Los resultados aportaron una salida cartográfica RASTER de detalle, la cual, complementada con trabajos de campo, permitieron resumir información para establecer exitosamente zonas de potencial peligro sísmico e hidrológico.The cordilleran area southwest of Mendoza known as Potrerillos, is composed of a series of villages with a constant growth and that has increased in the last years, with a very particular spatial disposition because it is highly dependent of its geomorphological situation, that produces physical type limits because of its potential development. This region hosts and supports internal and external geodynamic processes related to seismic and alluvial events, among others. This produces uncontrolled vectors of population increase and territorial occupation. The chaotic urbanization that this tourist zone is having, causes that much of the population moves to areas of important slopes, generating phenomena related to summer pluviometric events activating mass removal processes, in part triggered by seismic events, common in the area. These processes, along with others of lesser order, but equally important, place a nucleus of inhabitants in Geological Hazard. This paper presents the work carried out to develop detailed cartography to establish adequate mitigation, zoning and contingency plans in the area. Studies were developed by taking information from several remote sensors in order to establish multitemporal comparisons that allow qualification of anthropic pressure. Digital analyzes included maximum likelihood, decision tree (using digital elevation models from own data), density slice, main components and decorrelation stretch. The results provided a detailed RASTER cartographic output, which, complemented with field trips, allowed to summarize information to successfully establish areas of potential seismic and hydrological hazard.Fil: Cisneros, Héctor. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Fermani, Sebastián. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Torres, Jorge. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Grintal, Marta. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Catañón, Estefanía. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y LetrasFil: Amuchástegui, Gerónimo. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Morales, I.. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Ordoñez, M.. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza (Mendoza, Argentina)Fil: Cerrudo, Liliana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y LetrasFil: Sukjle, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letra

Discourse Phenomena as a Window to the Interfaces

This paper examines the two lines of analysis that are generally pursued when dealing with discourse phenomena in the generative tradition: syntactico-centric and interface-based approaches. Syntactico-centric analyses are criticized because they need construction-specific mechanisms, while interface-based analyses sometimes challenge standard assumptions about the architecture of grammar. The discussion is mainly theoretical, but three case studies serve as exemplification: focalization, ellipsis and parentheticals. The second part of the paper is focused on parentheticals; a brief proposal is presented regarding the distinction between free and anchored parentheticals from a syntax-phonology interface perspective. The general conclusion is that following an interface-based perspective to approach discourse phenomena can help us gain new insights about the nature of the interfaces and their role in grammar.Aquest article examina les dues línies de recerca que se segueixen generalment quan s'estudien fenòmens discursius en la tradició generativista: enfocaments sintàctico-cèntrics i d'interfície. Critiquem les propostes sintàctico-cèntriques perquè necessiten fer ús de mecanismes específics per analitzar cada construcció en qüestió, mentre que les propostes d'interfície de vegades posen en dubte l'arquitectura gramatical estàndard. La discussió és fonamentalment teòrica, però s'utilitzen tres casos d'estudi: la focalització, l'el·lipsi i els parentètics. La segona part de l'article se centra en els parentètics; es presenta una proposta bàsica per formalitzar les diferències entre parentètics lliures i ancorats (ang. free i anchored) des d'una perspectiva d'interfície sintaxi-fonologia. La conclusió general és que seguir una línia d'anàlisi d'interfície per tractar els fenòmens discursius pot ajudar-nos a comprendre millor la naturalesa de les interfícies i el seu paper a la gramàtica

Cyclic transfer in the derivation of Complete Parenthetical Clauses

The goal of this paper is to show that some parentheticals are indeed syntactic orphans (cf. Haegeman 1988) and that this intuition can be formalized using tools independently motivated in linguistic theory. We concentrate on new data regarding clitic realization in what are commonly called Reduced Parenthetical Clauses (RPCs). We show that these constructions with clitic differ of their reduced counterpart in many aspects; crucially, they behave as root domains. Thus, we argue that they are derived independently from the host clause (in a parallel workspace) and their linear interpolation occurs during the Spell-Out process, assuming a dynamic version of cyclic Transfer (cf. Chomsky 2001, Uriagereka 1999). </jats:p

Crystal structure of the Legionella pneumophila Lpg2936 in complex with the cofactor S-adenosyl-L-methionine reveals novel insights into the mechanism of RsmE family methyltransferases

The methylationlation of U1498 located in the 16S ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli is an important modification affecting ribosomal activity. RsmE methyltransferases methylate specifically this position in a mechanism that requires an S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) molecule as cofactor. Here we report the structure of Apo and AdoMet-bound Lpg2936 from Legionella pneumophila at 1.5 Å and 2.3 Å, respectively. The protein comprises an N-terminal PUA domain and a C-terminal SPOUT domain. The latter is responsible for protein dimerization and cofactor binding. Comparison with similar structures suggests that Lpg2936 is an RsmE-like enzyme that can target the equivalent of U1498 in the L. pneumophila ribosomal RNA, thereby potentially enhancing ribosomal activity during infection-mediated effector production. The multiple copies of the enzyme found in both structures reveal a flexible conformation of the bound AdoMet ligand. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements suggest an asymmetric two site binding mode. Our results therefore also provide unprecedented insights into AdoMet/RsmE interaction, furthering our understanding of the RsmE catalytic mechanism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Efectos de la competencia entre plantas vecinas sobre la vía de señalización de los jasmonatos en plantas de Arabidopsis thaliana

La competencia y la herbivoría son dos fuerzas selectivas en la evolución de las plantas terrestres. Éstas deben crecer lo suficientemente rápido como para ser competitivas con sus vecinos y, al mismo tiempo, asignar recursos a las defensas para poder sobrevivir a los organismos consumidores. Estudios recientes mostraron que las señales lumínicas asociadas a la competencia, p. ej. una baja relación rojo:rojo lejano (R:RL)produce la represión del sistema de defensas, tornando a las plantas más susceptibles al ataque de insectos herbívoros y microorganismos patógenos. En este trabajo de tesis doctoral se pretende avanzar en el entendimiento de los mecanismos que median los efectos de cambios en el ambiente lumínico asociados a la competencia sobre la vía de señalización de los jasmonatos (JAs). Se postulan y descartan posibles mecanismos mediante los cuales la inactivación del fitocromo B (phyB) por bajas relaciones R:RL produce la represión de la vía de los JAs. Los estudios se realizaron en plantas de Arabidopsis thaliana en los cuales se evaluó la expresión génica y la producción de diversos componentes de la respuesta de defensa de los JAs, así como la resistencia al patógeno necrótrofo Botrytis cinerea. Los resultados presentados en esta tesis están entre los primeros en demostrar que la simulación de competencia por bajas relaciones R:RL produce un aumento en la susceptibilidad a la infección del hongo B. cinerea, y que este efecto del RL está relacionado con una represión de la vía de señalización del JA. El efecto del RL ocurre a nivel del módulo SCFCOI1-JAZ de percepción de JA-Ile. Los resultados también sugieren que la variante de splicing JAZ10.4 es necesaria y suficiente para que la radiación RL aumente la susceptibilidad a la infección de B. cinerea, y que la represión de la vía del JA se encuentra regulada a un nivel post-transcripcional que involucra a la deacetilasa de histona RPD3 tipo 6 (HDA6). También se demuestra que en ésta represión no participan elementos de la vía de señalización del acido salicílico (SA), antagónica a la vía de los JAs, y que, para varios de los marcadores analizados, las proteínas DELLA (represoras de la vía de señalización de las giberelinas (GA) ) no jugarían un papel importante en la regulación del efecto del RL