T cell Allorecognition Pathways in Solid Organ Transplantation.

Transplantation is unusual in that T cells can recognize alloantigen by at least two distinct pathways: as intact MHC alloantigen on the surface of donor cells via the direct pathway; and as self-restricted processed alloantigen via the indirect pathway. Direct pathway responses are viewed as strong but short-lived and hence responsible for acute rejection, whereas indirect pathway responses are typically thought to be much longer lasting and mediate the progression of chronic rejection. However, this is based on surprisingly scant experimental evidence, and the recent demonstration that MHC alloantigen can be re-presented intact on recipient dendritic cells-the semi-direct pathway-suggests that the conventional view may be an oversimplification. We review recent advances in our understanding of how the different T cell allorecognition pathways are triggered, consider how this generates effector alloantibody and cytotoxic CD8 T cell alloresponses and assess how these responses contribute to early and late allograft rejection. We further discuss how this knowledge may inform development of cellular and pharmacological therapies that aim to improve transplant outcomes, with focus on the use of induced regulatory T cells with indirect allospecificity and on the development of immunometabolic strategies. KEY POINTS Acute allograft rejection is likely mediated by indirect and direct pathway CD4 T cell alloresponses.Chronic allograft rejection is largely mediated by indirect pathway CD4 T cell responses. Direct pathway recognition of cross-dressed endothelial derived MHC class II alloantigen may also contribute to chronic rejection, but the extent of this contribution is unknown.Late indirect pathway CD4 T cell responses will be composed of heterogeneous populations of allopeptide specific T helper cell subsets that recognize different alloantigens and are at various stages of effector and memory differentiation.Knowledge of the precise indirect pathway CD4 T cell responses active at late time points in a particular individual will likely inform the development of alloantigen-specific cellular therapies and will guide immunometabolic modulation

Communication, Culture, and Technology

The challenges of teaching Content Strategy and Information Architecture in a professional Master’s program are daunting because in these two disciplines the source of quality is hidden, and methodology can provide little useful guidance. The solution was to provide the cultural, epistemological, structural, and strategic principles behind these disciplines in classroom sessions, employing traditional lecture methods plus interactive exercises. All practical, hands-on experience comes through group research projects where students are expected to apply the principles that have been discussed in class. Students are evaluated solely on the group research projects. This case study suggests classroom methodology adjustment to make it more interactive and bring it into line with the informational environment students live in every day.</jats:p

L'exemple de Barcelona: Quan els sorolls fan art: la ciutat i la ràdio

Conferència a càrrec de Ray Gallon, productor sonor i antic programador de la ràdio WNYC-FM de Nova York, sobre l'art sonor a la ràdio i el cas concret de Barcelon

From Metastudies to Metaverse

The authors believe that the Metaverse is a paradigm shift infrastructure technology that may make 60% of universities irrelevant in the next 20 years if they don’t move away from the meta-studies model. Meta-studies refers to an archival, largely paper-based process of “teaching” what other people have written about, focused on the past, and supported by the “publish or perish” imperative. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced universities into adopting technologies that form a part of the Metaverse, but for the most part they have used these technologies to perpetuate the status quo. If universities cannot change their practices to become more agile, adopting design thinking, inquiring minds, and critical thinking not only for students but also for themselves as institutions, it will be commercial entities such as Meta and Microsoft who will decide what education will take place in the Metaverse, and students will go there whether universities are present or not. It is therefore important that universities change their own paradigms, and engage with this technology to discover how it can be used effectively in education, so as to foster principles and values for building knowledge and cementing ethical, sustainable practices.</jats:p

Higher Education and Globalization

In this chapter, the authors examine the forces influencing higher education in a digitally globalized, plurilingual, and intercultural world, and how they have already begun to change some traditional notions of what higher education is for, and how it should be adapted to fit new emergent social needs, which are currently under debate in the educational field (Mehaffy, 2012). They go on to propose a connectivist vision for the future of globalized higher education and provide three case studies that illustrate ways of achieving that vision. Each case study has a different orientation: resource orientation, process orientation, transformation orientation. All three of them have the same objective: innovation and adaptation to the new globalized paradigms that have placed higher education in an increasingly complex context. </jats:p

A Social Constructionist Model for Human-Machine Ecosystems

Future learning experiences will be shared in hybrid communities that include humans and non-human agents. Students will need to be protagonists of their social learning situations, together with interactive “smart” tools, and teachers will share planning responsibilities with high-tech assessment tools. Personal engagement will be a major factor for educational success, and collective constructionism will represent the unified model for understanding human-machine interaction. The authors analyze the factors that influence how this will happen through three specific domains of socio-cognitive development: explicit information acquisition, implicit knowledge development, abstract meta-reflection. Humans will experience unpredictable cognitive changes just by merging their goals and actions with artificial intelligence agents. A social constructionist educational system needs to take this into account, plan for the unknown, and work with these evolutions with the goal of developing a new ethos based on a society that is global, networked, collective, ethical, and inclusive.</jats:p

Physical rehabilitation for older people in long-term care.

The worldwide population is progressively ageing, with an expected increase in morbidity and demand for long-term care. Physical rehabilitation is beneficial in older people, but relatively little is known about effects on long-term care residents. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2009

Transmedia and Transliteracy in Nemetical Analysis

The increasing diversification of interconnected media platforms, which provide a complex discourse, demands an effective use of the space that is now called “transmedia”. This article provides terms and definitions for transmedia and for the new set of personal skills and abilities required to participate in it: “transliteracy”. It also presents the nemetic system, which facilitates analyzing, tracking and visualizing communication interactions in virtual transmedia environments. Learning to use these new media platforms requires skills beyond the traditional listening and reading, to be able to integrate multiple messages in multiple codes, as an essential skill both for personal and professional communication. This transliteracy is a complex ability of intertextual navigation, the strategy for coding and decoding the multidiscourse in the digital ecosystem.</jats:p