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Legal efficacy in the digital era: assessing regulatory responses to Artificial Intelligence and misinformation in the journalism workflow
No full textScholars generally agree that the monumental, perhaps defin-itive, crisis of the media industry—specifically, of the press (un-derstood as large, printed newspapers)—began in 2008. That year, the worldwide financial crisis broke out, and, simultane-ously, printed press sales declined for the first time, being sur-passed by digital media consumption. Facing the immense influence of digital platforms (Meese, 2023), major media companies globally began an intense search for new revenue models (Díaz-Noci & Pérez-Altable, 2023). They also actively lobbied the legislative and executive branches in favour of their financial interests (Danbury, 2016). Since then, media companies, especially legacy printed news-papers, have actively campaigned to establish paywalls. This subscription model has seen relative success but has not halted the industry's decline. Notable exceptions exist, such as the membership-based model adopted by The Guardian. The persistence of this economic problem has been encapsu-lated by scholars: ‘If news is important, why aren’t more people willing to pay for it?’ (Tandoc Jr. & Seet, 2024). This reluctance to pay is even more evident among young adults, a demographic where trust in news is also lower
Ecological transition in Spain: political polarization through institutions and media
No full textWhile most Spanish citizens recognize the urgency of climate change, opinions differ on the specific measures to mitigate it, which are grouped under the concept of ecological transition. The ecological transition policies put forward by states, parties, and political leaders have become a factor of political polarization, with the media—through their role as shapers of public discourse—playing a significant part. In this article, we examine the ecological transition from two perspectives. First, we explore the level of political polarization among Spanish society regarding how ecological transition is framed and how ecological transition measures are perceived. Second, we investigate how the media cover these measures and views to identify potential connections between their portrayal of the issue and the public’s perceptions. A two-pronged methodological approach is applied: a survey to assess citizens’ perceptions and a content analysis of four Spanish newspapers with diverse editorial leanings to evaluate the media treatment of the topic. Results show that left-wing respondents agree more with the idea that ecological transition is the solution to climate change, whereas right-wing respondents more frequently view it as a threat to current lifestyles and as a process imposed by governments. These results are also reflected in the press coverage of ecological transition. We conclude that the press emerges as an actor that reinforces the existing political polarization in society around ecological transition.This work is part of the Social Perception and ECological TRansition Under a Multidimensional socio-economic analysis of the Spanish region (SPECTRUM) project [Grant TED2021-130835B-I00] funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR
Reclamaciones territoriales en el Mar de China meridional: implicaciones militares y económicas del conflicto
No full textTreball de Fi de Grau en Ciències Polítiques i de l'Administració. Curs 2024-2025Tutor: Jordi Quero AriasLas reclamaciones territoriales del Mar de China Meridional representan uno de los conflictos geopolíticos más relevantes del siglo actual debido a su importancia por la competencia de recursos naturales, así como del control de las rutas marítimas que concurren por la región, lo que ha implicado la superposición de reclamaciones de países vecinos. Centrándose en una perspectiva realista, se busca explicar la configuración de acciones de los Estados involucrados en las dinámicas de poder e influencia. A través de una metodología cualitativa y el análisis de fuentes primarias y secundarias, se contrastan cuatro hipótesis que explican la motivación del conflicto: la competencia de recursos y rutas marítimas (H1), las limitaciones del derecho internacional (H2), las dinámicas de acción y reacción (H3) y la intervención de actores extrarregionales (H4). Se determina que la disputa responde a una lógica de competencia estratégica en la que los actores estatales, tienen por objetivo la maximización de su influencia y posición relativa en un sistema internacional sin control superior. El derecho internacional, lejos de resolver estas disputas, es instrumentalizado como un elemento más en el que los factores materiales (recursos naturales, rutas marítimas además del componente geopolítico) motivan y tensionan las reclamaciones
Charting the alternative splicing vulnerabilities of cancer
No full textCancer co-opts alternative splicing to select isoforms that promote disease initiation, progression, and persistence. Drugs targeting either cancer driver splicing factors or specific splicing events can hamper the disease. However, the systematic identification of splicing factors and the splicing events with cancer driver potential –and thus therapeutic potential–remains challenging.
In this thesis, I develop computational methods to prioritize splicing factors and events of functional relevance to cancer. I create methods to chart the splicing programs underlying heterogeneous cancer samples, revealing their involvement in multiple cancer hallmarks. Additionally, I establish a statistical framework to identify potential cancer driver exons across the genome enlarging the list of potential cancer driver genes. This approach uncovers exons with therapeutic potential for treating glioblastoma in genes previously unexplored and identifies cancer-specific exon-exon splicing junctions that could drive cancer.
Overall, this work provides tools to study the systemic regulation of alternative splicing in cancer and generates functionally relevant, testable hypotheses, to exploit cancer’s splicing vulnerabilities therapeutically.El càncer segresta l'splicing (o empalmament) alternatiu per a seleccionar les isoformes que promouen la iniciació, progressió, i persistència de la malaltia. Els fàrmacs que modulen els factors d'splicing o esdeveniments d'splicing específics poden retardar l'avenç de la malaltia. Però, la identificació sistemàtica dels factors de splicing i dels esdeveniments de splicing amb potencial per a impulsar el càncer –i, per tant, amb potencial terapèutic– és encara complicada.
En aquesta tesi, desenvolupo mètodes computacionals per a prioritzar els factors d'splicing i els esdeveniments d'splicing funcionalment rellevants per al càncer. Creo mètodes per a mapejar els programes d'splicing que fonamenten mostres de càncer heterogènies, els quals participen en múltiple característiques del càncer. A més, estableixo un marc estadístic per identificar exons amb potencial oncogènic al llarg del genoma, ampliant la llista de gens impulsors del càncer. Aquest mètode descobreix exons amb potencial terapèutic per al tractament del glioblastoma en gens fins ara inexplorats, i identifica unions d'splicing entre exons específiques del càncer que podrien ser impulsores del càncer.
Aquest treball proporciona eines per estudiar la regulació sistèmica de l'splicing alternatiu en el càncer i genera hipòtesis funcionalment rellevants i testables per explotar terapèuticament els punts febles de l'splicing en el càncer.Programa de Doctorat en Biomedicin
El Lenguaje simbólico colonial y su transgresión en Puerto Rico
No full textLa institucionalización de la cultura en Puerto Rico perpetúa un discurso colonial a través del lenguaje y el poder simbólico en la actualidad. En nuestro estudio, examinamos una selección de obras de arte y el discurso asociado a ellas, abarcando desde finales del siglo XIX hasta el presente. Nuestro objetivo es reflexionar de manera crítica y sensible sobre los mecanismos que generan un consumo despolitizado de imágenes y símbolos en el contexto caribeño contemporáneo. Nos enfocamos en reflexionar la diferenciación entre legados materiales e inmateriales, destacando cómo los discursos coloniales se proyectan en la memoria histórica actual. Proponemos un análisis crítico del lenguaje anticolonial a través de las obras de Awilda Sterling Duprey, Daniel Lind Ramos y Marisol Plard Narváez. Además, conceptualizamos una pedagogía anticolonial con el propósito de guiar los procesos pedagógicos creativos contemporáneos en el contexto caribeño, buscando revitalizar un aprendizaje cultural que sea crítico, sensible y contextualizado.The institutionalization of culture in Puerto Rico perpetuates a colonial discourse through Ianguage and symbolic power in the present day. In our study, we examine a selection of art\vorks and the discourse associated with them, ranging from the late 19th century to the present. Our aim is to critically and sensitively reflect on the mechanisms that generate a depoliticized consumption of images and symbols in the contemporary Caribbean context. We focus on reflecting on the differentiation bet\veen material and immaterial Iegacies, highlighting how colonial discourses are projected onto current historical memory. We propose a critical analysis of anticolonial Ianguage through the works of Awilda Sterling Duprey, Daniel Lind Ramos, and Marisol Plard Narváez. Additionally, we conceptualize an anticolonial pedagogy with the purpose of guiding contemporary creative pedagogical processes in the Caribbean context, seeking to revitalize cultural Iearning that is critical, sensitive, and contextualized.Programa de Doctorat en Humanitat
Astroglial reactivity is a key modulator of Alzheimer's disease pathological progression
No full textThis scientific commentary refers to 'Association of glial fibrillary acid protein, Alzheimer's disease pathology and cognitive decline' by Peretti et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae211).J.D.G. is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2013-13054). J.D.G. has also received research support from the EU/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking AMYPAD (grant agreement 115952), EIT Digital (grant 2021), and from Ministerio de Ciencia y Universidades (grant agreement RTI2018-102261)
Neuroimaging-derived biological brain age and its associations with glial reactivity and synaptic dysfunction cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers
No full textMagnetic resonance Imaging (MRI)-derived brain-age prediction is a promising biomarker of biological brain aging. Accelerated brain aging has been found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. However, no previous studies have investigated the relationship between specific pathophysiological pathways in AD and biological brain aging. Here, we studied whether glial reactivity and synaptic dysfunction are associated with biological brain aging in the earliest stages of the Alzheimer's continuum, and if these mechanisms are differently associated with AD-related cortical atrophy. We further evaluated their effects on cognitive decline. We included 380 cognitively unimpaired individuals from the ALFA+ study, for which we computed their brain-age deltas by subtracting chronological age from their brain age predicted by machine learning algorithms. We studied the cross-sectional linear associations between brain-age delta and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of synaptic dysfunction (neurogranin, GAP43, synaptotagmin-1, SNAP25, and α-synuclein), glial reactivity (sTREM2, YKL-40, GFAP, and S100b) and inflammation (interleukin-6). We also studied the cross-sectional linear associations between AD signature and these CSF biomarkers, We further evaluated the mechanisms linking baseline brain-age delta and longitudinal cognitive decline by performing mediation analyses. To reproduce our findings on an independent cohort, we included 152 cognitively unimpaired and 310 mild cognitive impaired (MCI) individuals from the ADNI study. We found that higher CSF sTREM2 was associated with a younger brain-age after adjusting for AD pathology, both in ALFA+ cognitively unimpaired and in ADNI MCI individuals. Furthermore, we found that CSF sTREM2 fully mediated the link between older brain-age and cognitive decline in ALFA+. In summary, we showed that the protective microglial state reflected by higher CSF sTREM2 has a beneficial impact on biological brain aging that may partly explains the variability in cognitive decline in early AD stages, independently of AD pathology.The study was approved by the Independent Ethics Committee “Parc de Salut Mar,” Barcelona, and all participants gave written informed consent. The ALFA+ study receives funding from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434), under agreement LCF/PR/GN17/50300004 and the Alzheimer’s Association and an international anonymous charity foundation through the TriBEKa Imaging Platform project (TriBEKa 17 519007). Additional support has been received from the Universities and Research Secretariat, Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Catalan Government under the grant no. 2021 SGR 009132017-SGR-892. MS-C receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 948677); ERA PerMed (ERAPERMED2021-184); Project “PI19/00155” and “PI22/00456, funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and co-funded by the European Union (FEDER); and from a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847648 (LCF/BQ/PR21/11840004). DLM is supported by the project PI19/00117, funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and co-funded by the European Union (FEDER). VV has been supported by the project PID2020-116907RB-I00, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation - State Research Agency, MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033. GSB is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - State Research Agency MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 through the project PID2020-119556RA-I00 and by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project CP23/00039 (Miguel Servet contract), co-funded by the European Union (FSE+). OGR receives funding from the Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship Program (2019-AARF-644568), from Instituto de Salud Carlos III co-funded by the European Union (FEDER) (PI19/00117) and from Ministry of Science and Innovation - State Research Agency MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 co-funded by the the European Union «NextGenerationEU»/PRTR (IJC2020-043417-I). NV-T is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - State Research Agency MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, co-funded by the the European Union «NextGenerationEU»/PRTR (IJC2020-043216-I). In addition, NV-T receives funding from the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (ADDI) through the William H. Gates Sr. Fellowship program, and the PID2022-143106OA-I00 project, funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and co-funded by the European Union (FEDER). RC is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - State Research Agency MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 through the project PID2021-125433OA-100 (co-funded by the European Union (FEDER)) and a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC2021-031128-I, co-funded by the European Union «NextGenerationEU»/PRTR)
Estudio jurídico y jurisprudencial de la cláusula del artículo 183 bis del Código Penal: análisis de su aplicación práctica y críticas respecto a su ambigüedad
No full textTreball de Fi de Grau en Dret. Curs 2024-2025Tutor: David Felip i SaboritEste trabajo tiene como objeto el análisis de la cláusula recogida en el artículo 183 bis del Código Penal, introducida tras la reforma de la Ley Orgánica 1/2015, que fijó la edad mínima de consentimiento sexual en los dieciséis años. Esta cláusula opera como una exención de responsabilidad penal en relaciones entre jóvenes próximos en edad y madurez. No obstante, el legislador no ha establecido criterios claros para su aplicación; se trata de una cláusula ambigua que puede generar inseguridad jurídica y disparidad en su aplicación judicial. En este contexto, se abordarán las consecuencias prácticas de su ambigüedad, destacando los riesgos que esto implica. Como cierre, se propondrá una redacción alternativa del artículo 183 bis CP que respete la finalidad protectora de la norma y, al mismo tiempo, incorpore las propuestas sugeridas que ayuden a resolver el problema identificado
Foreign legionnaires and military mutinies
No full textThe composition of the armed forces is, by now, well established as a major factor determining the risk of coups d’état. However, military discontent not only manifests in the form of coups but also as mutinies. This latter form of troop rebellion has received little empirical attention. We examine how the practice of recruiting foreigners into the armed forces affects the likelihood of such events and develop two arguments regarding a direct and a moderating effect of legionnaires on mutiny risk. First, we contend that the recruitment of legionnaires is likely to cause material-based grievances, hence be perceived as detrimental to the corporate interests, wages, and promotion prospects of the rank-and-file, and thus troops will oppose the introduction of such recruitment policies. We hence expect the onset of legionnaire recruitment policies to be associated with an increased risk of mutinies. However, once such policies are in place, the presence of legionnaires can mitigate the effects of other mutiny drivers as foreign recruits impede local soldiers’ task-related grievances and thus incentives to mutiny in reaction to them. Using global data over the period 1948–2015, we find empirical support for the expectations derived from both arguments
